Acting
by SylviaSnape98
Summary: When the prophecy does not exist and Voldemort has only split his soul one, what happens to Harry Potter? Follow the life of Harry his twin sister, Sophie, to see how their lives end up. Rated T for mild swearing an preverted-ness later on.
1. Act 1

WARNING: I'm not sure how often I will update this, and I'm really not sure where in the world it is headed. But, if you stay with the story I'll try my best to make it awesome!

Disclaimer; I do not own the Harry Potter series. If I did, I would be in it and Sirius and Snape would be alive. Not Dumbledore though… So, yeah.

Kay, so here's some important back story stuffs that took forever to write.

"Tom…?" Lily Riddle nee Evans called. "Where are you?"

Lily flicked her fiery red hair out of her angry green eyes and she tapped her foot impatiently for the man she was looking for to finally reply to her calls for attention. "Dammit Tom Marvolo Riddle! Get your scrawny ass down here this instant or I swear by Merlin's beard I will-"

"You will what, my dear?" A deep seductive voice whispered in her ear. Normally this would have calmed her down a certain degree, but suddenly it just didn't work. Her quick elbow to the gut caught him off guard and her doubled over and finally crumpled to the ground when she quickly hit the lower part of his spinal cord.

"If you _ever _keep me waiting for that long after one of those… Those _stupid bloody _meetings I will kill you! It's bad enough that you force me to attend them, but ignoring me afterwards is unforgivable!" Her eyes were starting to glow green in their intensity and she pinned the man on his stomach to the floor as if he were just a struggling babe.

He moved his head out of the carpet and smirked slightly, he should have known that he couldn't keep her waiting. But something about her being so angry was just… Adorable. He could vaguely see her out of the corner of his eye and he couldn't help but think about their less than appropriate activities that he had finally convinced her were fine. She looked practically the same, with wild eyes and magic obviously flowing through her, pulsing as if it were alive. If only she knew what he knew.

"Lily, listen. I did not mean to ignore you; I was just busy with plans. I know that you are mad at them and at the plan that you have to follow… But please just bear in mind that you are doing it for the good of the wizarding world. If we don't leak false information to them and we don't know that they are doing then what good are we doing? Without you and Severus our cause would fail." He weaved some calming magic into his words and her shoulders relaxed slightly.

"Well… When you put it that way…" she smiled down at him and slowly got off of him and helped him up.

"Now, about our plan…" She said while looking down.

"Yes, dear?"

"Could you impregnate me? I don't want to carry around his children, I don't really want him to touch me either, but I know it's important…"

I already have, "Of course dear. I am always willing to do that. Lets go deal with that now." He smirked as he apperated her to his room and proceeded to do terrible things to her until the wee lights of dawn were coming up.

"Congratulations!" The Order of the Phoenix cheered at the latest news of their favorite couple.

"I know! Isn't it great?!" James cheered as he picked up Lily and spun her around for a second before kissing her in such a way that no one could possibly notice the repulsed light in her eyes. Maybe she should have been an actor… Oh, wait, she is.

Everyone cheered at the kiss except for Severus, who was acting how he was supposed to; jealous. She pulled away and put a hand on her barely there baby bump and smiled at the warmth it gave off. No one knew that it was not James's child that lay in her stomach. No one knew that when that child grew up it would be the bane of their existence for years afterwards.

"Push!"

Lily screamed obscenities at James Potter and the doctor and nurses that were practically forcing the child out of her. She practically had James Potter in a choke hold as he had made the mistake of leaning over the bed to check on her. Her arm was wrapped around his neck and he was pulled down so he was choking on the bar in between them.

"Stop pushing!" She wanted to kick the doctor in the face and she wanted to push damn it! Screw not pushing!

"Push!" Thank god!

Finally the child was out of her and screaming loudly. She smiled at the gorgeous little boy that was in front of her, but frowned when her contractions didn't stop. Suddenly she was screaming again and the process continued. Death would soon come to the insolent man that had forced twins upon her.

"Push Missus Potter!"

She screamed loudly as the child's head finally came out and suddenly panic overtook her and she shook her head side to side.

"I don't want to do this! Give me more time!" She was screaming and kept pushing at the doctor's command and sobbed from both the pain and how tired she was. She was tired of this already! Why did it have to be twins?

"Push one more time!"

The last push was her hardest. She wanted to just attack something, preferably James Potter, and stop feeling the pain. She went through it all in a daze of hunger and pain until the hospital practically shoved the children into her arms.

The boy who was first born was quickly named Harry and the girl was named Sophie, which Lily had just come up with.

"Harry James Potter, correct?" asked a little nurse who was writing their information down on the birth certificate.

"Correct." James answered for her from his position at her side.

"And you want her name to be Sophie Lily Potter?"

"Correct." Lily's voice was raspy but it still worked to some small miracle.

The portly little witch nodded and handed over the certificates, "Harry James Potter, born on July 31st 1985 weighing 6.12 pounds and 20.4 inches. He was born at 18:15, or in other words 6:15 pm. Sophie Lily Potter, born on July 31st 1985 weighing in at 6.5 pounds and 19.6 inches. She was born at 18:45 or in other words 6:45 pm. Thank you for coming here." The little witch walked off with a flip of her hair. Lily looked over at James and frowned. Her acting was about to start again.

"Lily! Take the children and run! It's him!" James sounded panicked but relief hit me like a truck and I had to force myself to turn and run as if I was terrified. He had come back! He had actually come back for me! Finally, I was free from this hell!

I ran up to Harry and Sophie's room and picked them up just as Tom made the door explode. I screamed just as I had to for everyone to think that something was happening then I turned and smiled at Tom.

"You came." I whispered as I stared up at them.

"Of course I did." Tom looked at both of the children.

"Two?" I saw his eyes get a red hue to them and I nodded vigorously.

"Yes. We had twins Tom! Isn't that great?" She looked up into his eyes lovingly and his anger immediately dissipated.

"Yes dear, it is. No let's make it look like I killed you all." He said with a smile and they slowly created piled of bloody meat and blood spatters everywhere. No one would know that they had not died.

Voldemort gently grabbed the young girl from Lily's arms and smiled at her. "Come, lets go home dear."

"Yes, lets." Lily grabbed his hand and they apperated away before anyone could find out the truth about Lily.

"Daddy?" A little girl with bright red hair and shimmering brown eyes asked. She was no older than five but her smile made her seem even younger. She had this vague innocence around her that made anyone do her bidding. Her name was Sylvia Lily Riddle.

"Yes, hummingbird?" Tom Riddle mused from behind the desk he was sitting at while glaring at the papers in front of him.

"Can I have a pony?"

Tom Riddle stopped short in the middle of writing a sentence and looked up at his daughter, not sure about how to go on from here. If Lily were here he would have waited for her to answer, but she wasn't at the moment. He had no idea where she was, now that he thought of it. He shrugged that off and focused on the matter at hand.

Sylvia just stared up at her father with his eyes. She was such a happy child…

"Come here, hummingbird." He said as he set down his quill and turned so that the child could sit on his lap. She bounced towards him and sat on his lap and squirmed around for awhile until she was perched just right, with her side on his chest and her legs hanging over his. She then started playing with his robes.

"Tell me, why do you want a pony?" He said evenly, although he did wonder if she meant a horse or a pony. They were to completely different concepts.

"Well, so I can ride it of course!" She looked at him as if he were stupid and he couldn't help but smile.

"But you can only ride a pony when you're this size. Are you sure you don't just want a horse?" He said while trying not to smile.

"Well, are horses soft?" She said with narrowed eyes.

"Depends on how often you groom them." He said with a serious nod even though he was trying to not smile. "But puppies are always soft."

"But you can't ride a puppy, now can you?" The eight year old said with narrowed eyes. She looked just like her mother had at that age.

"That is true, you cannot ride a puppy. But you can cuddle them and pet them all you want."

"You can't ride them though."

"Well, yes. We have already decided that, have we not? And I think they wouldn't like it very much if you tried either. But having a puppy is much more fun than having a horse, you don't have to worry about it as much."

Her eyes turned to steel as she turned and looked her father in the eyes, "Daddy. I. Want. A. Horse."

Tom held up his hands in surrender as his child slowly calmed down, "Fine, fine. You can have a horse; if your mother agrees."

Sylvia looked up at her father with eyes that were filled with such sadness that even the dark lord had problems not buckling under the pressure.

"B-but D-daddy…" She looked down with tears strolling down her face, "Hadrian has a pet!"

Tom stared at his daughter with wide eyes, having never heard this information today. Normally his magic would tell him if anything living entered this household. How could Hadrian have sneaked something like that in there under his father's nose? Sylvia was either lying, or something weird was going on.

"Oh? Does he?" he asked while trying to not sound interested.

"Y-yea! I-it's a little snakey, it wraps around his wrist and he hides it f-from mommy and you." She said while looking down.

Ahh. So, she was doing the truly Slytherin thing and trying to either get someone else in trouble or use her knowledge as leverage to get her way. Sometimes he was surprised at how much his children showed his ancestors values.

"Hmm… Well then, let's get you a horse, shall we?" He said with a smile ad tried not to laugh as she practically mauled him for hugs and thanked him over and over again. Sometimes, a Slytherin, others, truly a Hufflepuff.

"Hey, Sylvia!" Hadrian called as he walked out into the back yard of the Riddle Estate. It was about 7 acres all around. There was enough room for Hadrian to have his side and for Sylvia to have hers. He looked around and waited patiently for his sister to appear.

For a 10 year old he looked fairly mature. He had muscles that bulged slightly whenever he moved and a smirk that spoke of secrets that were too dangerous to know. His eyes gave of a witty and dark look. Those children that did have the means to meet him never forgot about him, or his sister for that matter. They were too unforgettable.

Sylvia Riddle rode towards her brother on a beautiful chestnut Clydesdale. Her red hair flew up slightly with each step the horse took and she looked her brother in the eyes with her knowing brown eyes. She had a compassionate heart shaped face that you just couldn't expect from the Dark Lord's daughter, which gave her a perfect cover. Her brother had to try harder though.

She slowly got off of the horse and flicked her long hair out behind her before looking at her brother in obvious annoyance, "What is it, Hadrian? I was trying to get Jessie to just listen to me for once." She looked over at her horse with a look that clearly said she would deal with it later.

"I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count." He said evenly.

She looked into his eyes with a slight frown forming on her lips before she smiled, "Oh, a gala is it? What time of the year is it…? Oh, the Summer solstice is coming up. No wonder you're not happy. This is perhaps your least favorite time of year." She blew her hair out of her face and looked her brother square in the eye, "At least Noir is allowed to accompany you. I don't have a snake yet, father say's I'll get one soon enough though."

It was true, it the summer solstice was going to happen at 11:25 on June 21st this year. The time changed every year but the date normally stayed the same. It was Hadrian's least favorite time of year because he was always forced to go to a grand gala with his sister and he hardly saw his friends while they were there.

"Yes, the bloody gala is coming up already. I can't stand that! All it is is filthy rich purebloods who are trying to soak up mother and father's attention. And we hardly get to see our friends while we're there." He ranted to his twin.

"Oh, Hadrian… Here, I'll change that for you, yeah? I'm sure it'll make you feel better. But this will only happen on one condition."

"What's that condition?" Hadrian said suspiciously.

"You have to let me pick out your dress robes for the occasion." She said with an innocent smile.

Hadrian thought over it quickly and finally nodded firmly and they shook hands. He knew that she couldn't be too terrible because she also had to wear the same color as he did. So it would make sure that it wouldn't be to ghastly, unless of course she found a way to get their Mum and Dad to cave to her will; which knowing her wouldn't be too hard. Suddenly Hadrian realized what a terrible deal he had just made.


	2. Act 2

An owl swooped into the kitchen and landed on the table while the Riddle household was eating breakfast. This wasn't an unusual occurrence as owls regularly came to Tom Riddle and Lily Riddle to ask for information of jobs they were supposed to do, or how they were supposed to dress for certain objectives. The owl was a Tawny and it had highly intelligent eyes, more so then most of the owls that they had seen. Tom reached out to untie the two letters from the owl and waved it away. The owl hooted indignantly and to save her father from a peck to the nose Sylvia handed the owl a small piece of sausage.

Tom rolled his eyes and looked down at the letters in his hands. He then sighed and moved the two letters over to the children. They looked down at the letters for a moment and then cheered and opened them with a vigor that their parents had rarely seen. They eagerly opened them and read through them and smiled happily at each other.

"About bloody time!" Harry crowed.

"Thank Merlin!" Sylvia said at the same time.

Like every child who was raised in the wizarding world of England, the children had sat and waited and waited for a letter to come from Hogwarts. They were practically bouncing because of their enthusiasm; this was a strange sight to behold as they were normally stoic children around their parents.

Suddenly the letters were taken from their hands and their parents were walking out of the room.

"Hadrian…?"

"I've got no idea." He said with a shake of his head.

"Oh… Well, let's go do something then…"

Later that day the whole family was sitting in Tom's office and one of them looked close to tears. The other three were mainly stoic but one looked angry.

"No." Tom said in a decisive voice.

"But-" Lily and Sylvia started at the same time, leaving Hadrian out of it because he would just annoy the man farther.

"No buts. You will not now, nor will you ever, go to Hogwarts."

"Well… Well why not!" Sylvia said in her first act of total defiance to her father.

"Because! I will not put you near that slimy old bastard!"

"_THOMAS!" _Lily practically screeched, as if Hadrian and Sylvia hadn't heard it before.

"Why do you call me that," The Dark Lord snapped. "It's not even my name!"

"Well it should be!"

"Back to the point!" Sylvia shouted. "We have to go to Hogwarts."

"I could home school you." He said.

"And, what? Draw attention to us? I can see it now, '_The only homeschooled pureblood children are in fact the children of the dark lord!' _Ha! Wouldn't that be a laugh dad?" Hadrian said sarcastically, as he said almost everything.

"Now listen here-"

"No! Dad, listen to _us_ for a change! If we go to Hogwarts, I can be your spy, and Hadrian can be your pawn. If we were there at Hogwarts but kept ourselves in check around the old fool then we'd be able to find acceptable Colleagues, and we could identify people that we will have to kill quickly on the battle field. Please father, we were born to do this! We've been trained, we've been perfected, and you can't hide us away forever!" As Sylvia spoke her voice started rising until she screamed out the last sentence before storming off.

Hadrian glared at his father and tilted his head slightly as if thinking of a good way to kill him, or at least show him all the wrongs he has done in his life. He finally just shook his head and stood up stiffly, "I'll go do damage control. But it may not be in your favor." He turned on his heel and mentally called out to his younger twin. He finally found her near the fireplace, patiently waiting for him.

"Hadrian, can we go to Draco's?" She asked quietly, her face showing nothing but her eyes showing how unsure she was.

"How about we send a house elf to ask him if it's a good time?" He said.

"Okay…" She looked down as if unsure.

"Milly!"

"M-master's be calling to Milly? Oh, oh, what can Milly bes doing for M-masters?" The little elf house was smaller than the average house elf, and she was still shy around people. She wore a thing that looked like an onesie but it was made out of pot holders. Her ears were perked up straight in the air and her eyes were the size of Tennis balls with a glowing green color to them. This one served their mother, but she wouldn't talk to her.

"Can you go to Draco Malfoy and ask if it is an appropriate time for Sylvia and I to go over to his house?" He asked.

"Of c-course M-masters! Milly can be doing that! Milly will be going to goes and dos that now… Yes, yes Milly will!" And with a faint pop Milly disappeared.

Sylvia was looking down at the ground and she held her arms out like a little child seeking their Mother or Father. Hadrian took the step in between then and held her gently as she shook in his arms. Somewhere deep down inside of her he knew that she hadn't been ready to face their father like that. She was still attached to the whole family concept. He wished that she could just understand that they wouldn't ever really have a normal family. It would always be about power and control, there may be some love in there, but it wouldn't be tangible, and she would only get it in wisps that were gone in a split second.

He would never say any of this to her face though. Even if the rest of their four part family didn't understand the concept, Hadrian would always be there for his little sister. She mattered so much to him, but to the outside eye they weren't the closest twins in the world. Most would assume that it was their personalities and their looks that put them so apart from each other. The looks so different and personalities like night and day. Truly it was just how different we were treated. She was the one that could easily get anything, but didn't want it; and I was the one who had to fight to get it, but wanted it so desperately.

Sylvia pushed me away gently with a perfect poker face on a smiled at me as Milly popped back into the room.

"Milly was told that Master can be goings over there. Misters Malfoy said that's he can't waits." Then she popped away again.

"Let's get going…" Sylvia said as she grabbed some floo powder and called out. "Malfoy Manor!" Hadrian watched as she disappeared with a blast of green flames. She was so strange…

He realized that he hadn't left yet and he quickly followed his sister's lead and used the floo to get to Malfoy Manor. As he walked in he saw Draco and Sylvia staring at each other before giving each other a hug that screamed of sibling like love.

"Welcome, Hadrian. I'm sorry, but dad has some Italian pureblood over and her son is with her. So we'll have a tag along today." He said evenly.

"Of course, that's fine." Hadrian muttered. In all truth father had also had some Italian woman over earlier that week, so she may have been a new recruit. That meant that Hadrian and Sylvia couldn't let her know who they were.

"Okay… Well… Let's go meet this new kid then. Oh, my name is Sylvia Rainier and this is Hadrian Rainier, my twin brother. Got that Draco?"

"Got it… So you're going with Army Advice for your last name this time?" He asked evenly.

"I chose it." Hadrian admitted.

Draco laughed, "Of course you did."

They slowly started making their way to where ever it was that the kid was waiting for them while Draco started telling them information about the new kid, "Don't mention his father apparently every man that his mother turns up with mysteriously dies or disappears. But as a byproduct they are filthy rich. Anyways, his name is Blaize Zabini; he's Italian and as some of the older girls would say, a 'heartbreaker'." He rolled his eyes at this as if he personally couldn't believe it.

Sylvia laughed happily at the notion and practically bounced towards where Blaize was, "I have to see this!" She sang happily as the two boys followed after her.

She knocked on the door before walking in with a perfect pure-blood façade and pretended to be confused as to why he was there, in all reality she was just looking him over, seeing if he was a heartbreaker.

Well, Draco hadn't lied. He had darker skin then she had expected, but that didn't take away from how handsome he was. He had sparkling brown eyes with thick long eyelashes surrounding them. His nose was wide but it didn't look out of place on his face, as his mouth was rather large too. His lips were a lovely rose color and they were quirked up at the corner to form a smirk. He was, honestly, breathtaking.

"Sylvia! I told you to not go running off on your own." Draco and Hadrian scolded and she rolled her eyes.

"You two are being completely rude! Hadrian and I haven't even introduced ourselves yet!" She acted as if she were completely baffled at the mere idea of them yelling at her before introducing each other.

Draco , who was being the perfect actor, seemed to snap back into host mode, "Oh, right. Blaize Zabini, this is Sylvia and Hadrian Rainier."

"Nice to meet you!" I quipped.

"It's nice to meet you too," He said as he stood from his seat and took self assure steps towards me. "Miss Rainier." He gently kissed the back of my hand and then he shook hands with my brother. Oh Merlin, he was such a charmer!

Oh no, I was swooning… That's not good. If Hadrian noticed I would never be able to live that one down. I quickly changed my facial expression so that he wouldn't notice; but Blaize noticed and he had the nerve to smirk at me. I blushed slightly. It seemed like he would be a great addition to our group.

"Well, let's go to Draco's room. He always has something interesting to show us." I said before anything could get to awkward.

Draco seemed like he was about to protest but Harry immediately spoke up, "What, Draco, do you have something to hide? Do you really think that we wouldn't find out anyways?" Draco seemed to get more and more flustered.

"Oh, Draco! We told you no girls until forth year!" I said in a faux shocked and terrified voice.

I could see Draco turn cherry red out of the corner of my eye but my focus was on the now laughing Blaize. His eyes were watering from his laughter and he was doubled over. It seemed like if we said one more thing he would start howling. I smirked, it looked like he would be a fun person to be around, and maybe I could keep him.

"Fine! If both of you will just shut up I'll lead you to my bedroom!" Draco growled.

Hadrian and I discretely high-fived each other behind Draco's back and we motioned for Blaize to follow us. Draco obviously wasn't happy with letting a completely new person that close to his life, but after we pestered him long enough he always caved. We never really had to try that hard. I think it came with being that attached to each other since we were kids. Every deatheaters child had to know the others, if not we wouldn't know who our future friends would be.

I had never really clicked with the girls, so I was more likely to search out Draco or Hadrian. Occasionally Crabbe and Goyle would be there, but I didn't really like them much. They were only the brawn; they had no brains, not even one brain cell between them. All they could do is grunt and smell; sometimes they could even hit things! But they really have no brains.

If Blaize stuck around though, then she'd have three people to go to if she needed to get away from frivolous talk or no talk at all; Merlin that would be helpful.

Draco tried to walk past his door and I reacted quickly and pointed at him so a stinging jinx hit his backside he yelped and turned around with a glare at me. I just raised my eyebrows and jerked my head towards his door.

"Bloody hell, woman! Was that really necessary?!" He said while rubbing the spot.

"No, but you were trying to lead us towards a different room. Now open the bloody door, Draco." I said with irritation clear on my face.

"Bloody hell!" He muttered under his breath as he stroked a place on the door and it disappeared.

"Well, get in! I'm not getting in first, you might attack me again!"

"Having a problem with a _girl_?" A smooth interested voice spoke up from the end of the hallway. I turned around and my face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Uncle Sev!" I yelled happily as I ran towards the man who knew by now to move away from the stairs and just catch me as I flew into his arms. He grunted slightly under the impact, but he didn't say anything, he just held me for a second before putting me down gently. He then looked at the three boys behind me and mused quietly.

"So there are four for me to teach today…" He hummed.

Severus Snape was walking up to the Riddle manor to wish two twins a happy birthday when he felt a strange surge of magical power race from the house. It wasn't unusual for Tom to go into a rage and start showing his true power, but this one was different, it was… gentle. It was as if whoever did it had not realized, and had not known that they could do that. It was strange, he had never felt something like that before.

He tried to follow the magic but it had suddenly stopped and just disappeared all together, which was also strange. Then he felt a much stronger, angrier wave rush through the area.

"Oh, Tom, what have you done…" He muttered under his breath as he realized that it was Lily's magic that he felt this time. He quickly hurried into the house and towards the source to keep one of his three best friends alive.

He walked into Tom's study and found that there was a red with rage Lily with her hair flying around in the air that was attacking a surprised Tom with spell after spell.

"_You. Complete. _**IMBECILE**!" She screeched as her magic let out another even angrier wave as her magic tried to destroy the shield that Tom had put in between them at the last second.

"What happened?!" He yelled over the noise that they could more feel then they could hear. Tom just looked stunned as he had to rebuild shield after shield.

Noticing that he wouldn't find anything out without at least sedating Lily he quickly stunned her and slipped a calming draught out one of his many pocked and gently fed it to the now seething Lily. It would take about a minute to affect her so he looked up at Tom to find out what had happened as he picked her up and put her in a somehow not upturned chair.

"What in the world did you do to get her into such a state?" He asked in a quiet and somehow calm voice as he cast spell after spell to check on both of his friends. Lily was now calmer so he cast enervate on her.

"Do you know… Do you know what that… That _bastard _did to our children? On their birthday no less!" She said with fiery eyes.

"No, no I do not. Would you mind telling me?" I asked as I quickly fixed the room before sitting on a chair."

"He, bastard, decided to tell them they weren't going to go to Hogwarts. Just because of Dumbledore! You're there! Even Minerva to an extent! Sylvia was practically in tears, and she stormed off! You should have heard what she said to him!"

"I'll tell you…" Tom's still shocked voice said. "She said, '_Dad, listen to us for a change! If we go to Hogwarts, I can be your spy, and Hadrian can be your pawn. If we were there at Hogwarts but kept ourselves in check around the old fool then we'd be able to find acceptable Colleagues, and we could identify people that we will have to kill quickly on the battle field. Please father, we were born to do this! We've been trained, we've been perfected, and you can't hide us away forever!' _She thinks that I was just training them… She would be a spy if it meant she could go to Hogwarts…" He looked down at his desk.

I shook my head, sometimes Tom just did not understand what it meant to be a parent, or to have children around. I admit that I was normally hard on kids too, but there are some that need it to learn, they want to impress the teacher, they want to work to get approval. But Sylvia needed to be taught in a place where they didn't expect her to be exceptional, where they wanted her to just learn what they could teach.

"Well, there is an easy solution to this problem, Tom." He said evenly.

"What is it?"

"Let them go to Hogwarts." Tom blanched at this.

"But the old Bastard is there!"

"And so am _I_. Do you really think that I would let anything happen to those two while I was there? I may be cold, but I am definitely not that cold."

"Sure, Sev. You're not a stone." Lily said sarcastically.

"Shut up, lion. I don't need your comments." He said with a slight glare in her direction.

"Fine… They… they can go to Hogwarts. I don't understand why it's so important to them; they don't like having to sit for hours a day."

"Have either of you told her about your days at Hogwarts? And good stories, not just the bad ones?"

"Well, of course-"

"That's why. They want to see the place that their parents remember so happily, they want to see the place where their friends will go, where they can get the best magical career. That's all they want."

There was silence in the room and Severus shook his head, he had some twins to go talk to but first… "Who's magic was it that I felt before Lily's?"

"Hmm…? Oh, it was Sylvia's. She got so worked up that it just burst out of her. Don't really know why though."

Ahh. That explains everything about that certain burst of magic. I nodded at them and wished them a good day and good luck with the twins and I walked towards the floo so I couldn't co talk to Lucius, Merlin knows that the twins would immediately go there.

I was whisked through the system of houses and I caught glimpses of things that I still can't believe people would do in their living rooms. I rolled my eyes at the thought and I brushed nonexistent ash off of my clothes as I stepped into the living room. I then walked to the study as I knew that that would be where Lucius was. I quickly made my way there and knocked on the door, as I did not want a re-run of what I had caught Lucius and Cissy doing one day. I quickly shook the image from my mind and raised an eyebrow at the man who had opened the door.

"Oh good, you weren't as… engaged as I had presumed you would be." He mused and he smirked when he saw the other mans eyebrow twitch. He quickly let himself in from the hallway and nodded at the woman that was in the room. It must be that new recruit that everyone is going on about, some woman named Abigail Zabini.

I had to admit, she was beautiful. With dark black hair and a gentle smile that seemed to always be on her lips. She had obvious Italian heritage, as she had olive skin. Gorgeous, but only in a model type of way, which was definitely not to his preference. When they looked that good they just used it to get their way, or they only used it against you. In Severus's profession, that was the worst possible thing to happen.

"Miss Zabini, It's nice to meet you." He said with a bow.

"As it is nice to meet you, Severus Snape." She said in a rich, smooth voice; but it was thick with experience. There was no innocence in it that could possibly lure a man in, at least not in Severus's point of view.

"So, Severus, what brings you here?" Lucius said as he sat at his desk. Severus had no choice but to sit in front of it.

"Well, it's a very simple matter, actually. As you know, it is Sylvia and Hadrian's birthday today." He said tiredly.

"Oh? Oh, yes, yes it is. Draco has a huge gift for the both of them; I don't know how they'll take it though."

"Yes, yes, it will all be very amusing. But what matters the most is that the Owls chose the wrong day to deliver the Hogwarts letter. Now, thanks to Tom, Sylvia is heartbroken and she also accidentally let out a storm of magic. Also, Hadrian probably followed her here as he knows when she needs things better than anyone else."

"Really? What on earth did Tom do?"

"He said they couldn't go to Hogwarts."

Lucius groaned and Abigail looked between the two of them in confusion, "My son is going to Hogwarts, it is the only good magical school in England. And if Dumbledore bothers him to much there is another school, it's known for trying to keep Light and Dark children together. But they do have great teachers there."

Severus and Lucius nodded, they had heard of the school, it was called Sanctum, and no one knew exactly where it was. That was a very big advantage over Hogwarts, because there was no chance for anyone to reach your children unless they cleared it with the school first. That was a huge advantage for dark and light families alike, as the other could never find out their secrets of what happened in that school.

Severus shook his head slightly as he looked at Lucius, "Lily gave him an ear full and almost destroyed him before I had gotten there. I will have to figure out just how strong she gets when she's angry… That was off topic, now, I think that he's being an imbecile. I'll be there, and you are a governor. There is nothing to worry about." Severus then stood with a flourish of his black as night robes. "I shall see you later, Lucius, I am now going to visit the children."

He quickly strode off with his robes billowing behind him like the bat that he is normally called by his students, some would never say that though. There were those that had respect for him and his ideals, and he was going to visit two of them right now. As he walked up the stairs he quickly thought of his reasoning for being there, and he decided that he would say that he was there to give them a lesson.

It was a little known fact, a _very _little known fact, that Severus had in fact started teaching the children how to control their accidental magic, which would make them stronger Wizards and Witches in the future. Of course, if they ever let it slip to there parents it was likely that they would be grounded for letting it happen, and Severus would be banned from seeing them for an unidentifiable amount of time.

"Bloody hell, woman! Was that really necessary?!" He heard Draco yelp in a strange way.

"No, but you were trying to lead us towards a different room. Now open the bloody door, Draco." At this he had to repress a laugh. If their parents had heard them talk like this they would be in so much trouble.

"Well, get in! I'm not getting in first, you might attack me again!" Draco's voice was indignant, but Severus could hear the underlying fear, he could also see it in Draco's face once he reached the top of the stairs.

"Having a problem with a _girl_?" I said in a smooth pretending-to-be-interested-voice. I almost instantly regretted my actions when I say Sylvia turn around and her face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Uncle Sev!" She yelled happily as she ran towards me and I took a couple of steps away from the railing. She had a way of pushing me down when she hugged me. Now that I think about it, Lily used to do the same thing. I opened my arms and caught her just in time as she practically flew at me. I grunted slightly under the impact of her hit, Merlin that child packed a punch! I slowly put her down after a second and I looked at the other children.

"So there are four for me to teach today…" He mused under his breath before moving down the hallway.

"Come with me children." He said in an authoritative voice.


	3. Act 3

**Kay, so according to every friggen story I've read that has had multiple chapters I'm supposed to be writing all of this boring stuff in the beginning of the chapter to say all this crap. Whatever. **

**The snake later in the chapter (and story. I like the snake) is pronounced Yormie. Like stormie but with a y... **

**So, I should probably explain some stuff… This is fanfiction, so of course it won't all be completely and honestly 100% original. I'm lucky that I came up with some of this as a kid, but reading fanfictions gives you ideas for fanfictions. Don't let anyone tell you anything else. The ideas for personalities are unoriginal, as I based some of them off of the books and the ones that I didn't base off of the books I based off of people that I personally know. Some are almost like me. But I won't tell you who!**

**Anyways, I'm now being Beta'd by OspreyEmblem (awesome stories, by the way. You should totally read them) and she'll probably yell at me for putting this stuff in here… **(B/N: Dagnabit Sylvia, must you campaign for me?)** Yay! This is Chapter three of Acting (Should I just call it act three…? Hmm…) and now I have to come up with a semi-original disclaimer. **

**Disclaimer: This is totally all mines. J.K. Rowling just wrote the story for me, but I had totally come up with it first. So this is my improvement of her version of my story… Make sense? **(B/N: No.)

Sylvia tied up her long red hair and her bangs still hung down in front of her face slightly, which annoyed her greatly. She honestly hated it when there was hair in her face, as it normally got in the way of her concentration, which she needed for this moment.

Blaize Zabini was sitting in the corner, having sworn the oath of Silence, and he was staring intently at her; she could feel it. She had to feel everything around her, understand what she needed to do. She took several deep breaths and turned into herself, feeling her magical core expand and twist to her whims. She focused on it until everything was sensitive, and she could feel everything around her. Finally she took one step up and faced Draco with a serious face.

"On the count of three, and I mean three." Severus said as he looked at the two children. He knew they would both start on two, but there was something to be said for following the rules on occasion.

"One."

The children looked at each other with powerful eyes that were tight with tension. It was obvious that they were prepared to spring at each other at a moment's notice. Severus started backing up to prepare for the onslaught that he knew was coming. For whatever reason, these two were always the most vicious when they dueled, and when they were paired together it seemed to get three times worse.

"Two."

The room seemed to creak slightly as it tried to keep all of the magical energy in, and the crackling electricity of it all raised everyone's hair slightly. Against their better judgment, the children did not act immediately, which made Severus's eyebrows go up a fraction before it was covered by his normal mask. There was no point in acting surprised; these children always did what surprised him the most.

A deathly whisper, "_Three." _

Suddenly the magic in the room seemed to explode and it centered on Draco and Sylvia as everyone saw the two practically fly at each other, their eyes seeming to be the only part of their bodies that wasn't blurring with the movement, they raised their arms and their eyes showed completely different intent on what they were going to do.

"_Natural talent, natural talent,"_ Sylvia thought as she tried to picture Jörmy, hoping that he would actually come this time. She felt another mind attach to hers and a voice groaning inside of her head.

"Heyah!" She said with a roar as a snake flung out of the air and at Draco, but she felt as if all of her power were drained. She stumbled and hissed in parseltongue, "_Jörmy, get him! Don't hurt him though." _She slowly felt her magic start working again and straightened herself up and shot a stinging hex at the otherwise engaged Draco Malfoy. She could hear and feel her brother cheering for her and Jörmy as they battled against the Malfoy heir.

"_What issss the point in sssssummoning me hhhhhere when you're just going up-" _Jormy dodged right against a stinging hex Malfoy sent_."Against thissss annoying hhhhhatchling?"_

"_To prove thhhhhat I can do it." _

Suddenly, Malfoy was throwing his hands up in the air and yelling, "I lost!"

Sylvia cheered and jumped around, Jormy doing the same thing, but it was more like going around Sylvia in circles. She was laughing happily and she jumped over the giant snake and hugged her brother. He rolled his eyes at her and hugged her back gently, not really hugging her like he wanted to though.

"Why isn't it against the rules to summon things?" Draco grumbled and Severus let out a burst of fast air that was supposed to stand for a laugh.

"Because if you _can_ do it, you're allowed to. Just nothing that is irreversible." He said evenly.

"Fine," Draco huffed. "I still can't believe that she chose Jörmy out of all things."

"Hey; don't be hating on the snake." She said as she let the snake come up and wrap around her waist with most of its body still on the floor.

"_Yyeessssss, don't messsss with the ssssssnakke, hhhhatchhhhling. I hhhaave important friendssssss." _the snake hissed.

"Hush you." Sylvia said with a gentle tap on its nose. "Or I'll shrink you again. Speaking of which, if I go to a school I'm going to have to shrink you to get you in. You know that, right?"

The snake looked away in what was obvious disgust. That was among one of the things that he most despised. The first one was those things that the humans called Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and the second was being shrunk. He enjoyed his size.

SSSSSSSSSS

As Severus started counting down he tried to predict who would win this particular duel. While Draco was more practiced and confident in his abilities, he also never toed the line. He did what he knew he could do, so his magic had yet to develop quite as much as Hadrian and Sylvia's had.

The duel could go both ways, but Severus assumed that it would tilt more towards Draco than towards Sylvia. Draco was more practiced, controlled. He was precise in everything that he did and he wasn't afraid to get a little damaged if he could do equal to or worse than that.

Sylvia on the other hand, she was a wild card. She was scattered in her magical range. Some days she could hardly even light a candle and others she could do a Patronus. So, basically, she was sporadic at best. There was hardly any chance for her to win this.

He started backing away quickly when he realized that he was counting and was still in range of their outbreaks of magical energy. Their magical cores were outrageously large; even Dumbledore's wasn't that big at that age. Of course, even Dumbledore didn't train as hard as those three did.

When the magical explosion was over, he watched the children's actions closely, noting how Sylvia's actions were more sloppy and focused more on power while Draco's were more practiced and disciplined. Just like their magic.

When the both raised their hands he prepared himself to have to stop the duel but a giant snake appeared out of nowhere and shot towards Draco. Too shocked to do anything, Severus stared at the snake with large eyes and a dazed look. He had never expected Sylvia to be the one to first figure out how to make things appear, but naturally he should have. She was the most attached to things.

He started moving forward when Sylvia stumbled, thinking that the child had drained herself yet again, but he was surprised and mildly proud when she got up and helped her snake with the continuing onslaught on Draco. It was more than she had ever managed to do while in a duel.

Draco finally admitted defeat, and the snake and Sylvia moved around until she hugged her brother. Severus finally made his way close enough to hear their conversations.

"Why isn't it against the rules to summon things?" Draco grumbled, and Severus let out a breath of a laugh.

"Because if you _can_ do it, you're allowed to. Just nothing that is irreversible." he said evenly. Nobody had ever done it, but he couldn't have children shooting killing curses at each other. Their parents would kill him.

"Fine," Draco huffed. "I still can't believe that she chose Jörmy out of all things." Severus smirked. Jörmy was her new snake. It was a type of snake that was supposed to be extinct, but she had accidentally revived one when she was younger. It was black in color and about 7 feet long. Since the snake could grow to around 24 feet or something like that, it was only a hatchling, which was probably how Sylvia had raised it so easily. That was when Severus had started training them. He couldn't have children reviving dead things in public.

"Hey; don't hate on the snake." Sylvia said as she let the snake come up and wrap around her waist with most of its body still on the floor.

The snake hissed something that was more than likely a threat, and Draco and Severus raised their eyebrows at Sylvia and Hadrian, who were the only two who could understand it. Blaize rose and walked forward towards them all finally, although Sylvia and Hadrian didn't notice.

Hadrian was smiling wider than Severus had ever seen him smile, and suddenly he was happy that he didn't speak parseltounge. If he did he was sure he would have been worried for Draco's life. Well, for anyone who messed with Sylvia. Jörmy was obviously a protective snake…. Maybe. Severus really wasn't sure; although he would never admit it to anyone. As far as anyone knew, he was always correct all of the time. No questions asked. And he would prefer to keep it that way thank-you-very-much. So, he kept his mouth shut.

"Hush you." Sylvia said with a gentle tap on its nose. "Or I'll shrink you again. Speaking of which if I go to a school I'm going to have to shrink you to get you in. You know that, right?"

The snake looked away in what was obviously disgust. Severus didn't really understand why being shrunk was so bad; wouldn't it offer more maneuverability? And Sylvia had been teaching it how to be more stealthy in the daylight, so wasn't being smaller an advantage in that?

"You make it seem like it's a bad thing to be shrunk." Draco said with a sigh. "Wouldn't it just be easier?"

The way that the snake was looking at Draco Severus could tell that it took high offense to that comment, and that it was thinking about turning Draco into its new prey. Severus subconsciously put his hand on Draco's shoulder.

"You make it seem like you understand what it's like to be shrunk. Why don't you give it a try Draco? I'd be more than willing to shrink you. Oh, but then you'd float! Poor air head." Hadrian said.

Severus rolled his eyes and watched silently as the two boys started fighting. He looked at Sylvia as she stared off at the distance while sitting on her snake's neck. It was obvious that the snake didn't mind, and that it would do anything for the girl that was perched on its neck. Blaize Zabini was looking at her in shock as if he hadn't expected this.

BZBZBZBZBZ

I stared in shock at the strange girl that was seated on a _snake _while watching her two… friends? Brothers? Who knows at this point! They're all close enough to be siblings, but Draco is a Malfoy and the twins are…Well, twins! How in the world could they all be this close? I heard a gentle yawn that cut through the arguing like a knife and both boys and the man turned to face the girl I was already looking at. Her pale skin turned a gentle pink in color.

"What…? I just yawned." She said tiredly, but they were all looking at her worriedly. What were they so worried about, anyways? All she did was yawn…while sitting on her snake, mind you. If I was going to be staying around, I would obviously have to start acting and thinking weird too.

"Sylvia, are you sure you're just tired?" The man asked slowly. I needed to find out his name. Sylvia had called him Uncle Sev, but I assumed that that was just her nickname for the man.

"Of course… I'm… Just… Tired…" She swayed slightly on the snake and suddenly the tail was wrapped around her and she was leaning backwards like she was about to fall. I heard hectic hissing and Hadrian told the snake to shut up as the man grabbed Sylvia and cradled her towards his chest as if she were precious cargo.

"What happened Uncle Sev? Did she use too much magic again?" Draco said while hovering nearby. Hadrian looked like he was concentrating really hard with his hands on the side of his head and his forehead bunched together.

"More than likely that is the case. As you can imagine, summoning a seven foot snake takes more than enough energy to drain a person. She'll probably just have to rest." The man said.

"She's not responding." Hadrian muttered and frowned. "Some birthday this is turning out to be."

I was shell-shocked. Today was their birthday? Then why were they away from their house? Wait… Did they have a house?

I watched as the man gently laid her on the ground and put his hand just above her chest, focusing deeply. A dark green thing started slowly moving out of his hand and she was glowed a gentle blue that started mixing with the green to turn a brilliant turquoise.

"Severus, you should stop now," Hadrian said, his voice a little deeper than usual. "She's starting to respond again; you can't give her too much more or she'll go into a magical coma and dad will kill you. Just saying." The steam from his, Severus', hand stopped quickly at that news and he moved back and stared at Sylvia.

She wasn't moving for a couple of minutes, or seconds (I honestly couldn't tell because of the shock to my system and how strangely worried I was) and I could tell that the others were going to start worrying. Suddenly, she fidgeted slightly, and the whole room breathed a sigh of relief. The snake was instantly hissing up a storm. Sylvia slowly sat herself up.

"Why do you all look like you've seen the dead raised?"

"Because we have," Hadrian said smartly.

ADADADADAD

October 31st 1981

He didn't understand how it had happened, but Albus Dumbledore was in a panic. He had seen the Potter's house destroyed, and he had seen that James was killed by an obvious killing curse, with Voldemort's signature dark mark above the previously protected house. Silently wondering how the protection was broken Albus went upstairs and looked around the upstairs, trying to find where the more-than-likely-dead Lily and babies were. All he found was a mass of blood and gore. He was immediately repulsed at how gruesome it all was. The smell of death was too much; how had it all been done to two young children and a Muggleborn? What had the world come to?

The Order thought the whole thing was some sort of sick joke, and they were none-too-pleased when Albus Dumbledore had come to tell them that the protection that was placed upon the house hadn't even been tainted, as if Voldemort had been invited in by whoever was protecting it.

They had taken the meat and given it to a little man that was going to try to stitch it all together to form a human body, but his worst fears were realized when the meat didn't form human bodies, and the blood was a mixture of various elements that would make it look real, but wasn't. The worst part was that no tracking spell worked, and his fears grew and grew. They had to be behind wards of some sort for such a thing to be possible, which meant they were with a witch or a wizard, and a powerful one at that. That meant Voldemort was keeping them prisoner. The only consolation he had was that his instruments told him that Lily was still alive. The babies were gone…

January 1982

He had just received word from the goblins of Gringotts; Harry Potter's vault had been accessed. He had rushed to the bank to ask his questions, but the results were frustratingly limited. The only way a person could gain access to the vault without the key was to provide a sample of blood that matched their magical records for Potter blood. And somehow, the person who had entered the bank had done just that. But the person that the goblins said had entered the bank had been an adult – or at least, he had appeared to be an adult. The goblins refused to give him a memory of what the man looked like, though they did say that the next time he came in, they would do one of their standard security checks on the man, and that was all. He _wanted_ them to notify him immediately if the man came in, but they refused.

The only thing that they had told him was that the whole vault had been emptied. The whole vault. Was it ransom for Lily?

It was outrageously frustrating.

SSSSSSSSSSSS

While Severus Snape was acting, he would reluctantly admit – if only to himself – that he had a lot of preconceived notions in his mind as to what to expect from Harry Potter and Sophie Potter. He hadn't even met the 'spawn' yet, and yet he was already convinced that the boy would be a carbon copy of his father. He had made an effort over the past few years to to keep himself as distanced as possible from all things Potter.

When Albus somehow managed to _lose_ the children and Lily, and then went on his eternal crusade to try and track the family down-until he discovered the children 'dead' of course- Severus tried not to get involved. Sure, he got roped into some bits of the search – mostly, he had been responsible for subtly keeping an eye and ear open for any whispers of members of his old crowd having acquired them-but after several years had passed without even the slightest hint or indication as to where the boy might be, he basically stopped trying. He wasn't trying in the first place, anyways.

The fact that a man, in disguise, but apparently of _Potter blood_, had accessed the spawn's Gringott's vault told Severus that the Dark Lord and Lily had obviously been smart enough to get into the vault and obtain the money. Chances were that Potter's bastard of a father had some sort of illegitimate relation that Albus simply didn't _know about_, that Tom and Lily had found. Of course, he would never say any of this.

Severus, in contrast to the _ridiculous _headmaster, was firmly _ignoring_ the whole ridiculous drama, and instead focused on preparing for the new school year-_like the headmaster should be_. Well, most of the time he was. There were days when he was looking forward to seeing the 'dead' children and the 'missing' mother. Sometimes Dumbledore was an idiot. Well, actually, that was most of the time.

SRSRSRSRSR

(After fainting)

Sylvia laughed quietly at the joke that her brother had made.


	4. Act 4

**Let's say some things about the story, right here, right now. (A/N Not as bad as it sounds)**

**Voldemort is kind of the good guy in this one… You'll see what I mean later on in the story. Oh, and Dumbledore is a jerk in it, so there will be Dumbledore bashing. **

**I may include some Wizarding politics in this later on, but more than likely not. Because explaining my ideas for it is kind of…hard. **

**There will be tons of Gryffindor bashing, and most of our favorite characters won't be…them, I guess. We'll be looking at the world through a totally different perspective. **

**Anyways, as I said last chapter, the snake's name is pronounced as Yormie. But his full name is Jörmungandr and last chapter I forgot to put the accent over the 'o' in****Jörmy. So, yeah…You should look up the myth about Jörmungandr someday.**_** [B/N: I did. It was cool.]**_

**Oh, I'll write in actual POV's today! Yay!**

**Disclaimer; I'm sad to **_**finally **_**admit that I do not, in fact, own Harry Potter. I do own Sylvia. So… Yay… **_**[B/N: It's about time you admitted it. I was getting worried.]**_

SRSRSRSRSR

As everyone caught me up on what had happened, Jörmy just wouldn't shut up. Finally I interrupted them and growled at him, "Shut up!"

Everyone stared at me and I suddenly started blushing up a storm and looked down abashedly, "Sorry, talking to Jörmy," I said quietly as Hadrian and Jörmy laughed at me.

"You were yelling…at your _snake_…" Uncle Sev said slowly.

"You would have too…"

"Somehow I highly doubt that Sylvia." Draco said smugly.

"Shut it." I grumbled.

"Mate, don't pick on her. She'll sick Jörmungandr on you." Hadrian said with a laugh.

"_I don't get 'ssssicked.' I go whhhhen I want to." _Jörmy hissed in irritation.

"_Ohhhhhh, blow it out of your tail."_ I hissed back.

Hadrian snorted and I got up and laughed at Jörmy's outraged face.

The ones that didn't speak parseltongue just rolled their eyes, and Draco suddenly got up with a happy expression.

"Get the snake to go away; I want to take you to shopping for your birthday!" Draco said happily.

Hadrian and I looked at each other in horror and shivered at the thought. It is a little known fact but Draco can shop like a fiend, and he could put any girl's shopping spree to shame. I don't particularly like shopping; normally the only thing I would shop for is books and equipment for Jessie, who I am still trying to train. Sometimes that horse just didn't listen… And I force a house elf to tailor my clothes, so I always have original clothing.

"Depends…" I said slowly, "What are we going to shop for…?" Out of my peripheral I could see Hadrian nod and Miss Zabini walk in.

"Pets!" Draco said, not seeing her walk in.

"Mum?" Blaize said his back straightening and his eyes watching his mother closely. I suddenly realized how suspicious this all would seem, with only one adult in the room, a giant snake, and a girl that looked like she just passed out. Oh, I did. How about that?

"Blaize," She said in an even voice as she looked over the children and her eyes lingered on Severus. "Introduce me to your friends." Her eyes were suddenly on me and I stiffened ever so slightly and immediately protected my mind. I couldn't have any prying eyes in there. Not today.

"This is Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy's son." He said while pointing at him. "That is Severus Snape," A nod in his direction, "And Hadrian and Sylvia Rainier. Everyone, this is my mother." He said quietly.

"It's nice to meet you all." She said with narrowed eyes. I moved slightly behind Hadrian without really thinking, and she glared at me fiercely.

"Dear, it's time for us to go home. You have to get ready for Hogwarts." She swiftly turned and stalked out of the room, apparently heading towards the fireplace.

BZBZBZBZBZ

My mother walked out of the room and I was seething with rage. Why in the world was she so cruel to my friends or anyone that I met? Why in the world was I treated like this? Was having a friend so bad?

Hadrian and Sylvia gave me disappointed and desperate looks. I could tell that this supposed shopping trip with Draco wasn't what they honestly wanted for their birthday. Sylvia looked like she would rather die, although she was still cowering behind her brother from my mother's vicious glare.

"I'm sorry about that," I said as I held out my hand to shake Draco's hand.

"I'm sure it isn't your fault, Mr. Zabini." Snape said.

"I'm not so sure." I said as I shook his and Hadrian's hands before I kissed Sylvia's. I smirked at her blush. It was obvious that she wasn't used to having new people around her. It will be something that I work to my advantage, even if it was only to see her get that embarrassed again.

I bowed to them all with my proper Pureblood mannerisms and walked out to head to the fireplace with my head swimming. The last thing I heard was that Sylvia would allow them to go to Diagon Alley in a week.

I now had three acquaintances that could possibly turn into friends or allies over the years, one of whom was extremely powerful, and temperamental. And she and her brother spoke Parseltongue…Oh Merlin, what have I gotten myself into?

I quickly started going over all the facts as I neared my mother. Draco Malfoy would be very powerful when he grew up, and there was no doubt that he would hold as much, or more, political power as his father does, so he should be kept. There was no reason to lose that much money or power, it just wasn't acceptable. But then there was Hadrian.

He seemed different then the other kids were. More introverted and more knowledgeable. He also seemed like he had resigned himself to whatever it was that was wrong. He seemed like, out of the group, he was the protector and he just did what he could to make sure that the others didn't get hurt. He must be like the older brother of the group, and he is an older brother too. But then there is the one I'm nervous about.

Sylvia; the obvious child of the group, and it seems like she's the most powerful too. Not many people could summon a 7 foot snake at that age. But there was a problem- with both of the twins, as a matter of fact- Blaize had no idea who their parents were. Sure, they had to be important for Malfoy to let them into his home and to laugh and smile with them, but that meant nothing. In this world full of war and public disputes there was nothing to be sure of- not anymore.

I reached my mother and we quickly flooed home, her irritation obvious. Once we reached the manor that my last step-dad had left us she turned on me, "Do you know who those children are?" She seethed.

"They are exactly who they are; they're children, like me." I said slowly. What in the world is up with her?

"Sure." She stormed out of the room as she talked. I winced slightly, knowing that I would be in a lot of trouble by the time she was done being upset with me.

SRSRSRSRSR

"I will go…shopping…with you under one condition," I said as I held up a finger in Draco's direction. "I will go in one week's time. There is no way that I'm going to Diagon Alley on my birthday. That would be stupid."

Hadrian rolled his eyes, "Hey, it's my birthday too!" he said in fake hurt.

"Shut it. What do you say, Draco?"

"Do I have to agree?" Draco drawled.

"You'd better. Or it'll be lonely today."

Draco groaned, "Fiend. Fine, you win this round." He then turned to Uncle Sev. "Do you have to work today?"

"Actually, yes; I was only here to get that little battle in, and to give these two presents, for their birthday, of course." Snape said as he put his hands on Hadrian's and my shoulders with a smirk on his face.

"Ahh, yes. There they are." Lucius Malfoy's voice sounded as he walked into the room with a smirk. "You know, I have presents for them also. But, I'll let you go first so I can outshine you." He said dramatically with a smirk at Uncle Sev.

"Of course, how could I ever think otherwise?" Uncle Sev drawled as his fingers started playing with something in his pocket.

"Well, go on."

He sighed as he pulled out two boxes and enlarged them and handed a rectangular box to me and a larger rectangular box to Hadrian. We looked at each other with a one sided smile (Yes, I was the one who smiled).

"On three. One." Hadrian started.

"Two." I continued.

"Three." We both tore open the plain black wrappers and looked at the boxes. I gently slipped the lid off of my box, and gasped quietly at the beauty of the simple silver charm bracelet that lay in front of my eyes. The chain looked as if it were a woven rope that had been dipped into silver, and it slowly turned into a beautiful clasp that looked as if it were a snake biting its own tail. I felt a slight pressure on my mind and I waited to figure out if it was Uncle Sev before I opened it.

"_It's a parseltongue bracelet, it will only open if you speak parseltongue to it, and you have to be the one to do it. You add charms to it by holding it close to it." _

"_It's great Uncle Sev! I love it!"_

"_Thank you." _

I then felt the pressure disappear and I rebuilt my walls, and smiled happily at how beautiful the bracelet was, and I gently took a charm from Uncle Sev, it was a beautifully crafted snake with a miniscule emerald as the eye.

Hadrian was staring down at the box with an expression that showed anxiety, hope, and pride. I wanted to move over to see what was in it, but I decided to keep my distance, knowing that my brother didn't really like being hovered over. I watched as he grabbed something and picked it up, barely daring to hold it, and caressed whatever it was. Then I saw a glint of metal against a harsh pristine edge and I realized what Uncle Sev had gotten Hadrian. It was a knife; and it was the knife of Slytherin at that.

I stared at it in shock, everyone in the world had thought it had been lost, or at least destroyed. And it was no wonder that the masses had wanted this certain knife destroyed. It gave off an eerie glow that just screamed unnatural. The handle was curved and obviously weighted, but at the same time the details were immaculate. Every scale, every brush stroke was a masterpiece within itself, and it just screamed of a beauty that all people wanted, but so very few got. You could tell that it had taken more than a few lives in its day, and that the ones that it didn't take had the impression of this knife with them forever, never to see it again, but always remembering.

"Is this…?" Hadrian whispered, neither of us noticing Draco's jealous expression.

"The Slytherin knife, yes." Uncle Sev said evenly.

"How…?"

"That, Hadrian, is a secret that resides with me and me alone."

Draco rolled his eyes before pushing his father up to the plate, "And what did you get them, father?"

Mr. Malfoy walked closer with a smirk on his face as he handed each of a box. I was really excited about this one; He normally gave the best presents out of anybody that I knew. I tried to stay still, knowing that he often made me wait longer if I showed anticipation. Hadrian didn't ever have any problems with this (of course).

He handed a big box to Hadrian and watched me squirm with a smirk, and told him to open his box. I watched as Hadrian slowly unfolded all of the edges around the box and smirked at me, knowing that I couldn't wait for this. He slowly opened the box and smiled at what it held. I looked over his shoulder and stared right at a black cloak with silver and blue accents to it. What was so amazing about this cloak…?

"I thought these were outlawed?" Hadrian said with a smirk.

"They might be. But they can't be outlawed if they don't know that someone has one." Mr. Malfoy said with a smirk.

"Touché." Hadrian smiled as he pulled out the cloak. "How many are there in England?"

"About 27, so as you can suspect the prices have sky-rocketed. Thank gods I've had this for awhile."

"Have you replenished it?"

"Of course. What do you take me for?"

"A Malfoy."

"Only the best."

I finally couldn't take it anymore, "What's so impressive about this cloak?" I asked impatiently.

"Well, my dear sister, this isn't an ordinary cloak. This cloak is a Polyjuice cloak." Hadrian said with a smirk.

I finally understood. A Polyjuice potion only worked for an hour, but as long as a Polyjuice cloak had a certain amount of potion on it, it could last forever, and you could be someone else without their hair. "That's amazing." I said with a gasp.

"Only the best." Mr. Malfoy said with a smirk."

I smiled slightly, knowing that I should have expected that. I watched as Mr. Malfoy brought out another box and sat upright knowing that that box would be coming to me. I watched as Mr. Malfoy held the box out to me slowly, ever so slowly, and shivered in anticipation as he finally gave it to me. I practically tore off the paper, much to everyone's entertainment, and stared at the book in front of me.

_**How to Take Care of Pegasus **_ _By unknown. _ I gently picked up the book and stared at the cover. It was of a hooded human that was holding out its hand to a giant, black, star covered horse that was leaning its head into the human's hand. My eyes widened at what I thought this meant, and I looked up at Mr. Malfoy in shock.

"Does this mean…?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"It came with a care taker and a horse, if that's what you mean." He said with a smirk. I didn't even realize what I was doing at that point, I just launched myself at him while squealing like a Hufflepuff would.

"This. Is. GREAT! Thank you Mr. Malfoy!" I said as I jumped up and hugged him. He had gotten me Pegasus, the horse of the stars! It's said that on the few occasions that it comes down you can actually see stars on its wings and in its mane.

He nodded and smiled ever so slightly, "Yes, I am brilliant. But, you two need to go back to your parents… I'm sure they're worried about you," at this he sent a glance over to Draco as if saying that he would have been worried if his child had run off like we had. "and we all know that keeping them worried is a bad idea."

Hadrian frowned and put a hand on my shoulder, "What time is it, Lucius?" I still don't understand why he called him Lucius; father had always taught us to treat most adults with respect, and I don't think that calling them by their first name was respect. I rolled my eyes and gently hit him.

"It's around two o'clock. So you two really should get going, and so should I." Uncle Sev said as he looked at the wizarding watch around his wrist.

I groaned quietly. We had left around 10 o'clock, so mum was probably worried and she would more than likely try to murder them. If there was one thing that I didn't like it was having people attempt to kill me.

Hadrian and I quickly departed with our pockets laden with presents.

LRLRLRLRLR

Tom was on the other side of the room changing into a more comfortable outfit for sleep. I looked away with anger still in my heart. He was a fool sometimes; he had never understood the concept of having a family. There was an obvious pain in their child's heart and he hadn't taken notice. Of course, I don't really expect him to take notice of such 'frivolous' things, but it would be nice if he could occasionally catch onto matters of the heart. I rolled my yes and I curled around a pillow that I normally slept with when Tom was gone, and I could feel his eyes on my back as I got comfortable. I heard his light tread come up behind me and resisted the primal growl that wanted to run through me.

"Dear? What is wrong?"

"Some things." I said with narrowed eyes. I was not in the mood to play the caring game.

"That doesn't answer my question." He said as he slipped into our bed.

"There are many questions that aren't answered." I said while holding in a growl. I felt a gentle hand move my hair out of the way as a cool mouth kissed my shoulder.

"What is wrong?" I felt a tug of legilimency but I tried to ignore it.

"You're wrong." The kisses stopped.

"What?"

"You're wrong." I said with more force.

"You do know who you are talking to, correct?"

"Yes. I'm talking to my husband. The father of my children, my personal protector." I whispered. I could feel him trying to calm down.

"I am _never _wrong."

"Then what are our children feeling?" I asked as I put a block on his legilimency. I felt him immediately try to reach out to them and hissed when he couldn't.

"They're happy."

"Wrong."

"Well why wouldn't they be? I told them they could go to Hogwarts! And they got tons of presents today, there is no reason for them to be unhappy."

"You're an idiot."

SRSRSRSRSR

DREAMDREAMDREAMDREAM

_She was cornered; she had nowhere to run. She could still feel the wards around her stopping her from Apparating out. She held her portkey tightly and shook in fear as he advanced on her, glinting blue eyes peering at her through his half-moon spectacles. She saw the evil smirk turning into a grandfatherly look and she shivered, holding her portkey closer. _

_Then he wasn't Albus Dumbledore, he was her own father. He looked at her terrified and his body shook from strain, "Run! Get out! Where's your husband?" _

_Husband, the word shot sharp pain through me as my body shook and my head turned quickly. "G-gone…" I stuttered out. "I don't know where he's gone. He was in the middle… Daddy, save him!" I screamed as the portkey finally activated. His nod was the last thing I saw before I was gone. _

_I heard an irritated motherly tut in my direction before I passed out._

DMDMDMDMDM

1 Week Later

Diagon Alley was full of families with children shopping for last minute school supplies. The Malfoy's, although normally they bought their things from Opulent Place, chose to come here today instead because they needed standard items for school. Dad sneered at the letter Dumbledore had sent us, and the poor quality equipment list included. The barmy old man believed if the Slytherin's were allowed to buy what they wanted the other children would feel bad about their family's financial state, as if the children cared, silly old man, and besides, the only ones it would matter to were the Weasley's, and what was wrong with putting them in their place?

Three house elves followed behind Sylvia, Hadrian and I to carry the bags as we shopped. We had almost everything they needed by the end of the morning, and had dad and mum take the loot and elves home. I left the best until last.

I didn't even look up as we passed the Apothecary, which was odd as the shop was full of potion goods. Of course, it held no interest to me, any potion kit or equipment sold here was only for the beginner makers, like the OWL level potions, anyone with real ambition as a maker went to Slytherin Gardens for apparatus and all their ingredients.

People from all across the country or the world even went to Slytherin Garden to pick and buy the freshest and some of the most exotic, rare potion ingredients. The potion market was in the centre of where the three main pathways meet; you could find almost anything in the market. Across the Garden, there were eleven conservatories, used for the most exceptional and unusual plants and, oddly enough, organisms. Not only is the Garden the optimal place to shop for potions, it is also a beloved visiting site, with its charmed fountains, unusual zoo, and pick your own plants.

Slytherin Gardens, although it carries the dreaded Dark name it does not change the fact that the Garden is the most favored place to search for plants and animal parts for potions. In fact, the youngest yet the most famous resident potions master resides in the Garden's Pagoda House. The Snape residence had created more potions in the last ten years than England as a whole had created in the last twenty years. Yep, although Uncle Sev work as a teacher in Hogwarts under Albus' eye he also work as a Potions Master research specialist in Slytherin Gardens for the Dark Lord.

I had only visited the Garden last week to pick out two sets of new Potions kit for first years for Hadrian and Sylvia, while picking out an advanced set for myself. Well… Uncle Sev picked it out for me actually, that way he didn't have to pay. That's how the rich stayed rich after all.

The trio arrived at Magical Menagerie, the famous pet store in the alley, and the only shop Draco felt was good enough for him the visit, as the creature's store was the best. In the Wizarding world there are two types of creature's shops, the forced and the voluntary. The forced shops were grander, more gift wrapped, the creatures sold in those shops were more for decoration than a companion. True to the name, the forced shop bought their creatures from creature dealers, where the animals were caught and forced into cages. Where as in this shop the smell was atrocious, and the layout was questionable but every single one of the creatures, no matter how odd, volunteered and wanted to come to the shop and they wanted a human companion, in shops like these the animals choose you, not the other way round.

The three children stood nervously at the door waiting for the owner to come out and take them to the creatures for inspection. It sounds kind of sadistic but this was the best way for the human and the creature to find familiars. Only the creature know how magically compatible the human is to them, hence why they choose the humans.

An old lady with a kind face came out of the back room with bird feathers sticking up on the top of her head she came over the greet the three.

"Which school dears?"

"Hogwarts." Draco and Harry replied shortly while Sylvia said the same in a much nicer tone of voice.

The lady nodded and was startled when Sylvia spoke more, "I'm only here with my brother and his friend though. I have a familiar already." She lifted up her cloak and Jörmy slithered up her chest and flicked his tongue out in irritation at the stink of the shop. The shop keeper, although she had seen some rare snakes in her lifetime had never expected to see a live extinct one this close, least of all one on an eleven years old girl's shoulders. Shocked was an understatement at the mesmerized expression on her face.

I tapped my foot in irritation, the lady had been fussing over how amazing and beautiful Jörmy was for the last ten minutes and Hadrian and I are the customers. Anyone would think the snake was. Jörmy seemed to like it though; he bathed in the glory of it all.

Finally after another five minutes of, "Oh, I read the Japanese used to worship them in temples." And, "Their blood can give you the strength of ten thousand men if taken with the right potions." Or, "They were descendents of the Basilisk, only while Basilisk developed the sight of death, they choose the speed of light." She led them to the back room.

"This way dears, there is always a creature waiting for you in here." How right she was, the room was magically expanded to form a circular hall with creatures organized into sub-species along the wall and in the centre of the room was a lake filled with crystal clear water. There must be millions of creatures here. From the smallest insect, the common cats and Muggle pets to the magical, the more dangerous kinds at the far back. Creatures from land, sky and sea, creatures you haven't even heard of, every one of them could be found here, and the two boys started walking around the shop as soon as they were allowed.

HRHRHRHRHR

The cutest panther came out of the lake it swam in; the panther shook its fur making water droplets land on Hadrian as he walked past. Surprisingly, the panther's fur dried instantly, Hadrian stopped and bent down to scratch the panther behind the ears. The kind gesture wasn't lost on the cub, however. When Harry pulled his hand away the black panther lightly sank one of its teeth into his flesh. With a yelp Hadrian pulled his hands back and tried to back away, only then did he find himself stranded on the spot.

The panther that was covered in thick black fur took a step forward letting Hadrian observe the beautifully shaped brown patches between his black furs. The fur stared to thicken into lush black fur again as it met his collar bone, where the fur was slightly longer than the rest of the black on the cub's body. Hadrian's cold heart melted when the cub extended one small paw towards him. Hadrian picked the pup up from the ground after one look of its face, with a pink tongue hanging out and curved ears on alert. Nothing could be cuter than this.

The most captivating of all features was the pup's eyes, the color was a shocking AK green, unknown to Harry one boy rejected the pup just because of its eye color. To Harry however, the AK green eyes was nothing but the cherry on top of the cake, He just had to have the cub, just had to!

DMDMDMDMDM

On the other side of the enclosure I was being watched by a pair of eyes, scarily like my own; they were an icy grey, so cold you could almost feel the ice wrapped around its heart. However, unlike mine the pair of eyes flashed pure silver when it spotted me. With one strong flap of its icy white wings, the Ice Phoenix landed on the branch I stood in front of.

As if by magic, I almost drifted over the bird. It was a blessing if one saw an Ice Phoenix, to me however they were nothing extraordinary. After all, my father owns the largest Ice Phoenix sanctuary in the world and they frequently visited the Malfoy Manor. Nevertheless, this bird was different; it almost mentally called me and bonded with me at their first eye contact. The strange icy shiver entered my eyes and ran down his back, yet it didn't matter to me because I felt all warm and fussy inside, it was a long time since I had felt that loved and cared for.

The bird tilted its feather covered head and looked at me curiously, before it opened its beak and sent out the most beautiful note, the bird sang as if telling the room it approves of the blond boy. The white bird sent an image like signal to me and willed me to come closer, then lightly peaked my finger to draw blood as fast as the pain came it went away, because the bird tilted its head again and a single silver tear fell from its eyes. The icy burn ran down Draco's finger, arm then straight to his heart. The bond between an Ice Phoenix and his familiar was now complete.

With that, the phoenix hopped off the branch and flew over head. Draco used this time to admire the beauty that was his familiar. The silver white short feathers covered its head leaving out black out lines of its eyes filled with two pools of melted silver, the purely white body interrupted only with the few silver feathers where the wings joined and a few more where the talons grew, thick fur like feathers covered its talons like on a snowy owl.

The wings were just magnificent, the inner feathers was as white as frost in winter mornings, but the few long feathers at the ends of its wing tips was engraved with silver threads. The tail, just as startling, the feathers were at different length, the shorter section was mostly white again with small glimpse of silver, the few longer feathers which was even longer than its body were a mixture of startling white, shimmering silver and a few strands of the palest green or blue depending where you stood. I feel as if I am the luckiest person in the whole world knowing this magnificent creature…no, magnificent being had chosen me out of all the others.

THIRD PERSON

"Let see what you have then." The lady in purple felt her breath catch in her throat when the blond boy came out with the Ice Phoenix in all his majesty. The bird had been here for the last three years without finding a familiar and the lady knew he was waiting, phoenixes knew, they always knew. For an old lady she sure moved fast; in a minute she pulled out a basket full of books and scrolls all about Ice Phoenixes and explained to Draco their magical properties and preferences, their body conditions and how to look after them.

"Ice Phoenixes unlike fire ones need much more care as they were from the Antarctica, although they have adapted to our environment they now use magic to control the temperature of the emotion and magic. Now in contrast to Muggle energy, Magic works better in cold emotion rather than hot temperament. Hence the myth Ice Phoenixes increase your magical strength, they don't they just make you calmer so you'd have more control of your Magic. When you are colder in emotion your magical core is more stabilized and work much more efficiently."

She babbled on about what a marvelous creature the Phoenixes were…that was until Harry came out of the back room.

At first she thought the boy didn't find a familiar, which was odd because everyone had one. Then at a closer look a black and white blurry dot followed him on his heels. Again she felt this was odd, how could a boy with such a powerful magical core only gain a non-magical panther for a familiar?

Hadrian bent down for the cub to jump into his arms while his sister cooed at how cute the cub looked and how much fun they'll have with it etcetera. The lady pulled the pup out of his hands and checked him over, when she got to his eyes however she knew this was no ordinary pup, no Muggle dog had eyes like the Avada curse. This pup was a treasure to be kept safe.

"This little pup young man is a drifter." The lady said in a trance like voice.

"What can he do?"

"Well…he drifts."

"Drifts?" Sylvia came forward and listened in as well as Draco.

"Yes Drifts. A drifter does not show its true abilities until one who is destined to help him approaches, that's why I didn't know about him before. You boy are in luck, not many, not many at all have neither the chance nor the ability to share their strength and friendship with a drifter. They go mad before the first touch." Her voice went quieter as she spoke on, making the trio lean forwards.

"A drifter takes shape of what Muggles call a pet, or sometimes a wild animal, however they are a type of…demon is the closest thing that comes to mind, but not quite, they have a heart, soul and mind, they do not kill, nor can they be killed. This drifter, I believe, can force its victims into madness by leaving behind a lingering sight of disturbing green light, before leaving the site in a drift of shadows, once the light turns yellow the madness starts, unless the same drifter heals the victim there is no cure. No research had been carried out on such creatures because with one look you are better off dead. The madness is only the beginning, you have dreams, dreams of the most tragic most distressing images never leaving you, some things are worse than death and this is one of them."

Most children would be frightened by this, not these three though; the trio were enchanted by the information.

"I cannot tell you what else the drifter can do, I don't know myself, there have been five drifters in history who made a pact with a human and four of them died because their magical core wasn't large enough to join that of a drifter's. You boy I feel you are powerful enough, but let me tell you this, the reason not many drifters exist is because they are very obedient and loyal, hence the shape of a dog normally. I'm not sure about this panther shape though. They'll follow your every word, action, example to a fault, the human, you, must teach the cub everything! How the drifter is brought up and what is taught to him stays for life."

"So, I can train him to…"

"Don't say it! Never, if you do…" She shuddered at the idea. "Teach him kindness child, do not only reveal him the evil side of life or he will become evil. However, do not hide evil from such creatures either, for a drifter must have chosen you because you show a level of evil and command. Even as a dog, a drifter does not submit easily to anybody."

"Ok…Show him evil, teach him evil, but only if I can control it, show him good too so he won't become a demon dog. Am I getting this right?" Harry asked.

"Yes child, my…you are a bright one."

**OKAY! Well, that took forever and a day! But on the bright side… It's done! Hahahaha! And it was a whopping 5,800 words, at least! **_**[B/N: 5909, by my count.]**_


	5. Act 5

**SOOOOOOOOOO….. I love all of you human like people! Although I'm not sure if you're actually human, I do like you! For no reason! I'm actually really REALLY happy right now. Sooo… After **_**much **_**though and hard work, my Beta and I have finally been able to throw together a reasonable chapter! **_**YAYYYYYYYYY!**_

**OH! Update thingy that you need to know! Jörmy will grow to about 40 feet… I did the wrong math. Darn. **

**Oh, and here is the list of the Familiars for the kids. **

_**Hadrian: His familiar is a drifter that is actually a baby panther (SO CUTE) named Shadow, or Shay for short. He is Mischievous and very playful. **_

_**Draco: His familiar is an Ice Phoenix named Frost that has the same mindset as the Malfoy heir does. He looks and acts as if he is above most things that he comes across, unless it is something like a rare gem. **_

_**Sylvia: Her familiar is a Titanaboa that she raised from the dead named **__**Jörmungandr or Jörmy for short. He can be snippy and he is often either rude or sarcastic, although is very protective. **_

**Disclaimer; I do not, nor have I ever, owned Harry Potter. I think that that is a crime, so we won't talk about it. It's terrible, truly. As always, this is a fanfic, so it's no pay **_**(A/N except for Reviews. Reviews are like money… and Crack. They should be classified as a drug.)**_

**Thank my lovely Beta for helping me with each and every chapter, from the beginning. GO OSPREYEMBLEM! [B/N: d'awwww.]**

**Parselmouth is **_**Italicized. **_

**SRSRSRSRSR**

As I looked up at the building that was to be our new home dad told us what was going on. I didn't really pay attention as I was too caught up in the building that stood before me and what I knew about what lay around it and in it.

I thought Hogwarts was extravagant and beautiful, but I thought Hogwarts would look like a child's sandcastle compared to this place, my new home. The Slytherin line (like the Malfoy's, the Black's and Lestrange's) had obviously made sure their own personal accommodations where up to standards before they invested in any other building like the Magical School, and their standards were VERY high, as was the Castle in the distance.

Most would think anything to do with the Slytherin's would be dark, lifeless, and slightly sadistic. Just hearing the name makes most magical-folk look to the right as if trying to see if there is a dead body hanging next to your head. Nobody would have imagined the most used home to the Slytherin line would be as noble, elegant and sturdy as the building in front of me, the gracious road leading up to the extravagant castle seemed to go on forever. To the sides were trees in a chaotic order, free, unbound, yet somehow arranged to make you feel like taking a stroll in the woods.

Nearer to the Castle, the trees became thinner and wider apart, but the hints of luxurious rich grass fields and aged stone walks betraying the intimidating coldness of the watch tower where the guards were on duty all day and all night. Then the fountains that were as large as lakes emerged from behind the hills along the road; sculptures of all kinds of dark mystical creatures raising out of the water their gemmed eyes watching your every move. The more I observed the creatures the more unsettling they become, as I soon realized what kind of position they were in. Strangled Alkonost with ripped flesh, Cerastes piercing its own body with its sharp horn, as seen in some more horrendous books of the darkest of arts. Axexes in a civil war with blood colored liquids dripping down their bodies but when it hit the fountain's surface turned back to crystal clear water. A brilliant piece of magic, but slightly unsettling.

The Castle itself is an art. The beautiful stoned walls, colour ranging from bistre to taupe grey sat upon a strong foundation inside of which would be torture chambers and potions labs, filling the dungeons with atrocious sounds and smells. The left and right front towers blocking the full length of the castle front from view, the walls guarding the castle's secrets jealously. The castle must be seven stories tall twisting its way up to the top, looming over you if you dared to look up.

The front doors, if you can call anything THAT size a door, were made from the strongest wood in the fortress surrounding the estate. Alexander's forest as it was named after the third great Slytherin who dedicated his life to potions and the art of plantation, which was why some of the rarest potion ingredient can be found in the fortress and nowhere else. If you are daring enough to look that is, for the forbidden forest would be like a petting zoo compared with this.

The wide meandering river at the back of the castle was blocked from my view because of the length of the castle, as was the Silver Lake (Traditionalists, all of them, as it was Lord Slytherin who named the Black Lake). If you were at the top of the castle's tower you would see the vast area of the dense forest matching the Amazon, and in the distance the rise of snow covered mountains behind the many hills no one has dared to climb. It was beautiful, beautiful like a painting.

"Yes father." Hadrian said as I zoned back into the conversation.

"Good. Take care children, I shall see you then." Dad strode off into some distant part of the castle that wasn't of my knowing and I looked at Hadrian in confusion.

Hadrian sighed and rolled his eyes, "Next time Sylvia, you need to pay attention. And to teach you a lesson I'm not telling you what Father said."

"_I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" _The squeaky voice of Jörmy in his shrunken form said to me.

"_What did he ssssay Jörmy?"_ I asked with a smirk.

"_If you tell her you won't get mice for a week." _

"_He ssssaid that you will have to sssshow yoursssselvesss at a meeting filled with foul humans that I can't eat tonight at sssssix."_

Hadrian growled and I laughed, "You're an idiot. He doesn't eat mice anymore. He's been too big for that for a long time. I thought you would know that."

"Well I don't have a snake as a familiar! As far as I know he could be feeding on gnats or something!"

I couldn't help it; I rolled my eyes at him, "Gnats…? That would be terrible. Have you accidentally ever eaten one while riding a broom? It's terrible!"

"I would expect it to be. Now come on, let's explore a little bit. Dad said that we can't let any death eater that doesn't already know us see us. So it'll be fun, right?"

I laughed wryly and enlarged Jörmy. If I was going in blind I would have a defence.

"_Why did we leave our first home? There are hundredsss of plump animalsss to eat there, and we ssstill have that annoying horssse here too. Why do we have to leave if we were perfectly happy right here? That man makes _no ss_senssse." _Jörmy groused as he noticed the lack of creatures on our trip.

"_Because if we didn't we would probably be dead right now." _I said while trying to not get to irritated.

"_You're absolutely no fun."_

We travelled around and got startled when suddenly we were facing a giant snake statue. I stared at it until suddenly it moved and looked at us curiously. I hadn't seen a statue move before so I got startled and moved back, but Hadrian took it all in stride. It was probably something to do with the private lessons that Draco and he had been taking since we were five. I took lessons with Narcissa and Bellatrix instead. Dad never did explain how he got her out of Azkaban, he just said that he had his ways and he wanted the best for us.

I shook those thoughts out of my head when the snake started speaking, "_Do you know the passsssword?"_ I gasped, recognizing the underlying hiss to the words that the snake spoke.

"_We have not been told of a password." _I replied cautiously, ignoring Hadrian's glare in my direction.

If a statue could, I would say that it looked shocked, "_You speak the nobletongue? That is the only password you need. Speak umong yourselves and come up with a password." _

"_Can the password be different for each of us?"_ we both asked at the same time.

"_If that is what you wish." _

I leaned back against Jörmy, happy that I could do so, and thought silently about the password that I would want to use. I wanted it to suit me, but I didn't want it to be so me that it could be easily guessed. I wanted it to be mysterious, but if you figured it out you would feel stupid for not knowing it. It had to be a puzzle, like my father is.

I looked up and noticed that Hadrian was gone, and I knew that he was already inside the room having thought up his password. He didn't have to think about it as much as I did because he himself was a puzzle, something too hard to figure out.

Suddenly a word came to me. _Blasé. _No one would expect me to use that word, because I was almost never blasé. I could work with that.

Blasé would be the first word, but what would come after that? Nothing about animals for sure, that would make it so Hadrian or anyone that knew me could figure it out. What was something that was never blasé? I smiled and walked up to the statue and whispered to it, "_blasé engagement." _

It nodded its head once and allowed Jörmy and I in. I walked into a study and my eyebrows rose. The study was painted a rich myrtle green with horizontal lines of black running at random intervals. Two bookshelves were placed to the right, reaching the ceiling. The oak wood desk placed beside the window behind it sat a large comfortable looking leather chair in the same shade as the table. In front of the table there was a set of leathered sofa, and two arm chairs. I couldn't understand why in the world there would be a study in here, but I ignored my confusion.

My curious side soon took over as I moved around each room like I was specifically looking for something. Touching everything and anything in reach, smelling the potion ingredients and pulling faces at the smells they gave off. I wondered around getting used to the décor a little before going to find the room that was mine.

I opened the first door that I saw and saw Hadiran lounging on a settee reading a book entitled _The Guide to Insanity_. He raised an eyebrow at my intrusion and said, "Because I figure you're going to be coming in here all the time go ahead and look about." I smiled and eagerly looked around his room.

Hadrian's suite looked towards the front of the Lair. The east wing overlooked a part of the forest and roads towards the entrance. Just under the window plants of all kinds were planted along with dense ivy climbing up the Lair's stone wall. The window seat was covered in velvet of the richest greens, the thick floor length curtains shaded in seal brown drabbed lazily to two sides of the Paladian window.

The most comfortable looking settee placed around the brown fireplace were covered in ivory coloured leather and decorated with dark green gems. Dark brown bookcases covered sections of the ivory walls, thick tomes already placed upon them, with room for personal storage here and there. This was only the living room.

Through the opened door way was the bedroom, a rather large bed was placed in the centre, the four poster bed again in a dark shade covered in rich expensive Egyptian cotton in shades of green and browns. The closet taking up the whole east side of the wall had eight doors to it. The bathroom, almost the same size as the bedroom was more like an indoor pool, coloured in light ivory, the light was green, giving the room an underwater feel.

On the other side of the living room was Hadrian's private study, and next-door was his training room. Every imaginable weapon was found along a wall. Every book readable for an educated 11 year old could be found in Hadrian's personal study. In the centre just before the large bright pentagon window was an oak table, painted in rich dark brown. After inspecting his room one last time, I ran into my own living room.

My room was facing the east gardens, perhaps one of the most beautiful views of the Lair. Trees scattered around the grounds but in the centre was a magnificent fountain, carved out by one of the masters in Rome. The layout of the rooms were similar to that of Hadrian's, conceivably more elegant and feminine. My favourite colours were used for my room. The walls painted in sapphire, with two thick horizontal lines of sliver at eye level with black cherry blossoms rising off the beams as if it was windblown. The Italian furniture all made with black wood found in the forest, and silk sheets in Alice blue covered the bed and divan. She knew that she had no problem with living here anymore.

She ran back to her brothers room and she squealed happily, "This place is awesome!"

**LMLMLMLMLM**

_**After they get Familiars. **_

"You are back early." I looked up from the contract as Tom greeted the children. I narrowed my eyes at the unnatural grins on their faces, especially the boys'.

"What have you done?" I demanded.

"Father!" Draco put on his most innocent face, which made my wife hide a smile. "What a horrid thing to say."

"Yes, Lucius, we merely decided to order the rest of our things so we could come home early to spend some more time with Shay and Frost."

"Whom?" Tom and I asked at the same time.

Just then, the tropical indoor plant by the door of the room began to shake and some dirt from the large marble pot spilled out. Tom pointed his wand at the black shape coming out of the pot…or from…under it? Finally, out fell a small panther cub. It sneezed due to the fact that some dirt from the pot had fallen on his muzzle then, with a wave of his tail, he bounced over to Harry, front paws on his shoes pleading with his AK green eyes to go and play.

"Meet Shay."

With a shimmer of silver and white light, crystals or ice flakes seemed to congregate out of nowhere, each icy crystal joining onto others and more joined together until the brilliant white Icy Phoenix literally crystallized in front of their eyes, all in an instant. With a graceful flap of its wings, elegant enough to out-do the Malfoy's, the bird landed lightly on Draco's shoulder.

"Meet Frost."

"They are Harry and Draco's familiars, and they are just beautiful, are they not? They both have extraordinary magical abilities. Shay is a drifter, have you heard of them before?" Tom nearly choked on air when Sylvia mentioned the word. He and I knew what they were, of course. We just did not want to meet one in this life. I watched as he glanced weakly at the cub still tugging playfully on his heir's shoe, now almost begging to go and play. Hard to imagine such an innocent looking cub with a mischievous kitten face could be a drifter, out of all things.

"Shay and Frost. Good names, simple yet…" Tom drifted off.

"So appropriate." I filled in the gap. I was mesmerized by not only the drifter but the beautiful bird on my son's shoulder. My own familiar was a magical Eagle, which was impressive enough, but an Ice Phoenix was just mind blowing, even for a Malfoy. These birds were endangered, not as much as the Water Dragons, but endangered all the same. To be chosen as a familiar was considered an honour, and now that old fool in Hogwarts could not claim to be the only human with a Phoenix as a familiar. I don't know how much more good news I could take in one day.

"Why don't you take them around the Lair for a tour," Tom spoke to the trio, "whilst we organize their accommodations. I don't think you would have had time to buy the necessary equipments for raising a panther, not to mention a drifter. A Phoenix needs even more because they are so proud." I noticed his mouth move more at the end, but I couldn't hear what he said.

I watched as the children walked out, with Sylvia taking up the rear with Jörmy draped over the small child's shoulders. She leaned back slightly and winked at us, her eyes lighting up mischievously when she loudly suggested that they should show Lily. That child was trouble….

Once the door shut Tom sighed, "I don't think they should go as my children."

There was a beat of silence before Narcissa spoke up, "Then who?"

**LRLRLRLRLR**

I rolled over on the new bed and frowned at the still unusual surrounding of the new room. I sighed and got up slowly to go over and coax my husband into the bed, knowing that he had a very important meeting with the death eaters tomorrow. I of course, was not allowed to go to the meeting as he was worried about what they would do to me, but I honestly didn't care, and I doubted that they would try anything.

"Tom, come to bed." I said quietly in his ear as I draped my arms over his shoulders. I felt him groan quietly but I knew it wasn't because I was here.

"I can't sleep yet dear." Tom Groused as his head fell back onto my shoulder.

"And why not? Tom, you need sleep too, it's not just the children."

"Well... This is more about the children then anything."

"Oh? How so?" I said as I walked to bed.

"Hadrian has a new familiar..."

"Yes, yes, we all know that. They're inseparable."

"But it's a drifter!"

I sighed. I knew this would be a problem as soon as Hadrian had let me meet the small panther. It was a cute little cub, but I knew what it could grow to be, and so did Tom. He didn't understand that Hadrian had a chance though. If I knew my children they would be researching drifters and they would know what they were and what they could do by tomorrow, "Tom, it doesn't matter that it's a drifter. What matters is that our son is strong enough to have a drifter as a familiar, our daughter was able to raise a snake from the dead, and Draco has an Ice Pheonix as a familiar. This is amazing dear, don't you see that?"

Tom sighed as he walked over and sat down on the bed next to me, "I don't see how great it is..."

**HRHRHRHRHR**

"So we would be related." Sylvia asked, voicing what both her and I had been thinking. "Draco and I? But we are completely different, how can you expect anyone to believe that we are related through anything! Father, please, we don't even look alike!" Sylvia waved her arms in the air as she walked besides me and behind our father.

"Sylvia, Hadrian and you will be Draco's very distant cousins, and not even through blood. Bella's late husband, Rodolphus's father had a brother called Maniazi Lestrange, he had two sons both of whom died during the war 11 years ago, the youngest, Seth, had only started a family with a pureblood Irish girl called Isha before he died, which left her pregnant."

'_How horrible. You should never leave a woman alone during war. There's no telling how much trouble they could get into'. _Hadrian thought as he glanced over at his sisters concerned face.

"Now, both her and the daughter she was carrying died because of a complicated birth, however, thank the stars that the Lestrange's are very private people, they didn't share that knowledge with the press. We are making out the two of you to be the Lestrange twins, which will explain your appearances. Maniazi and his house elves raise you for the past 11 years, before his death in the past month, which was true, so do show your regrets when you next see Bella."

I sighed. Dear Merlin, he was making this complicated. Of course I would remember what he was saying but knowing all of this seemed stupid as I wouldn't be out in the open very often as I would be posing as a Lestrange I would have to act as privately as they do.

My father spoke on, "After his death the elves are passed onto Bella as she is the mistress of the house, however she does not have a child of her own, hence why she gave al Lestrange heirlooms to Rabastan to look after. Now she is sharing custody of you with her brother in-law. However Bella and Rabastan don't really have the cleanest name, for that reason the court decided to let Bella chose another family member to look after you, and she chose her sister Narcissa Malfoy."

I heard my sister huff with obvious indignation and smirked. She nor I had any need nor want to be associated as a family member of Draco's. While we were close friends he could still be slightly pretentious at times.

"With the Malfoy's money and political power behind them no one would say no, that's how you are 'related' to Draco. You would of course be made to live at Malfoy Castle, but in reality, you will live here. The Malfoy's have to many properties for the ministry to check them all."

Finally he was done talking! I glanced over at Sylvia to see that she felt the same and sighed with I could see her burning question. I really wished that she was done with her curious stage, but I knew that that would never end.

"Do we have to change our names, dates of birth, or anything like that? Should we wear appearance charms or something like that? The Hogwarts replies we made were properly dealt with, correct?" Sylvia's brain was obviously working overtime as we digested all of the information that we had been given.

"No, for now you will keep your name and all the rest, but be careful not to shout it out loud if you are out. Once you start Hogwarts you will have to change your birth details, but that's been dealt with."

"Well shouldn't we be told father?" I asked.

"Hush, I must be going." Father said as he patted our heads and apperated out of Slytherin Manor to go do Merlin knows what.

I sighed and looked over at my sisters bewildered and angry face. I shook my head, knowing that this wasn't ever going to end. It was always going to happen, hopefully she would learn that soon.

"Want to research Drifters?" I asked her.

"Way ahead of you." She said with a smile as she pulled out a book from a bag.

"Let's get Draco." Hadrian said with a nod.

**From The Book**

_An Introduction to Drifters._

_In magical Egyptian mythology an Ammit means dog of the underworlds, the mediator of justice. They guard the mind, heart and soul of the dead. The once well respected beings are now feared because of the adjustments made to them by the guild of the dogs in hell. One kind of Ammit guarded minds and souls with fairness and just, there were another kind, the kind that changed from the old ways, they were the Drifters._

_Drifters got their name from the way they travel; they appear to journey by the well-known shadow drift, but the few human shadow walkers ensured us it was not the case. Instead, they use a portal only open to the will of the darkest of demons. There are black lines running throughout the universe and some believe across dimensions. The Drifters attach themselves to the lines and follow the scent or the will of their masters. The only limitation to this is the opening of the lines must be in the dark or in the shadow, this however is normally not a problem as even shadows created by dust particles are large enough to cater to an opening._

_Another name for drifters are Babi, this is because of their supernatural adorability, charisma and allure of their appearances, drifters use this to fascinate and lure in victims like the Veela._

_Drifters only go back twenty million years, relatively new considered by the demon evolution, this is because they were shaped by a group of guild dogs. Created to torture the mind of the humans who committed too much evil in life, going to the drifters were considered one of the worst punishments. The guild bonded the Drifters to a master each to make sure they do not corrupt the underworld, hence why even now they cannot exist without their master._

_When the guild dogs died in the blood war of demons the drifters were left behind, their numbers dramatically declined but still breed every few centuries; their talents remained with them but can only be practiced when a master is by their side._

_Not only do Drifters collect the minds, heart and souls by eye contact and send the victim an image of lingering bright light which turns a disturbing yellow making them mad. They also keep the mind in their own soul, because a drifter's soul is so concentrated in evil, darkness and negativity, a human mind cannot rest, their soul and heart still linked with the mind sees all evil and tragic. The human is continually tortured until they die._

_There is another way a drifter can gather minds. They shape shift in to a black fog. This fog was thought to be the Black Death however that was proven wrong. The clack fog was actually a very concentrated gathering of demon portals. As we know, anything mortal cannot be in the underworld, which is why once the black fog pass over a land, nothing, not even light is left behind. This method allows the drifters get passed the need to use Legillimency, however the black fog is exceedingly difficult to create, and only the most determined of drifters can practice such an art._

_This leads on to Legillimency, Drifters are the true Legillmens. There are few who can protect themselves from a drifter. The talent to break down one's barriers, read their thoughts and plant thoughts, images, ideas and initiatives into people's heads is inherited from their forefathers. Although the drifters cannot control your actions like the imperious curse, they can make you believe you want the result bad enough to carry out an act._

**HRHRHRHRHR**

I closed the book and thought about what he just read; the fact that Shay had chosen me and trusted me with such power was mind boggling. I promise myself and Shay that I was not going to abuse this trust and I will raise the drifter perfectly. I would need my friends help for this though.

I watched as Sylvia frowned thoughtfully from where she was perched inside Jörmy's coils and she leaned her head back against the snakes cool scales slowly and thoughtfully. She was obviously trying to think of tactics to raise Shay too.

I then glanced over at Draco to see that he had Frost on his shoulder while he leaned forward in his chair as if he were in an engaging conversation. He seemed to also be thoughtful, but it seemed to be less innocent than what Sylvia was thinking.

I sighed and picked up my rowdy panther cub and stroked him until he calmed down enough to sleep. Even if he was going to be a struggle to maintain, I already loved the little bugger too much to ever leave him. I needed him like a fish needed water, no matter how much I hated saying it.

"Well, what do you two think?" I asked slowly as I leaned back into the couch.

"I think that this will be tricky," Sylvia started.

"But it will be well worth it in the end." Draco finished for her much to her obvious annoyance.

"Yes, but what do you think we should do to raise him...?" I said in exasperation.

"Easy," Sylvia muttered. "Don't let him into your and Draco's lessons. He can't see that yet. First teach him kindness then slowly show him what you can do, don't make him dive in head first. Treat him like the baby he is. At Hogwarts it will all be easier, we won't have to worry about it as much, because even though familiars are allowed we'll have him disguised and he'll learn from our lessons and such. So we'll be fine."

Draco stared at her like she was insane, "You're obviously a girl."

"Of course I am. I've got the parts and everything!" She said with mock excitement. If what I knew about her was true, she hated the fact that she was a girl. Not only because she was expected to be shallow and numbingly boring but because of how girls were expected to be all etiquette and no force of mind. For a girl like my sister being a girl was possibly the worst punishment in the world.

Draco rolled his eyes at her and pointed a finger at her, "You need to stop thinking like a girl, you need to think about this like Hadrian would."

"You're so stupid Draco." Sylvia said dismissively. I suddenly knew that I would be in the middle of a huge feud soon.

**BZBZBZBZBZ**

My mother was out of the house for something that she called 'business' and she told me that I should leave too. I paced around my room for awhile before finally deciding that I should get out of the house, but to where I had no idea.

I got dressed in clothes that weren't to formal and then I remembered what happened at the Malfoy house. Maybe I could go there?

I leaned over the fire after sprinkling floo dust and waited for a house elf to appear.

"What would you bes needing sir...?" It was obvious that the elf wasn't sure about doing this.

"I would like it for you to talk to Draco Malfoy and ask him if I am able to come over"

"Oh, okays sirs, I will be right back!" The elf squeaked as it apperated away.

I sighed n waited patiently. I personally hated waiting, but I would wait as long as I had to to get out of the house.

Just as I had started thinking of trying again Malfoy walked up to the fireplace while he looked kind of irritated.

"What is it that you want, Zabini?" Malfoy's annoyed sneer of a voice said.

"I've come to do something. I assume your father is out?" I said.

"Yes, he had work to attend do."

"Well, would you mind if we did something together?"

"I wouldn't mind, but I was actually busy..."

"The Rainier twins?"

I noticed Malfoy pause and think for a second, "Something like that... Let me ask if they would like to come here to visit, their house isn't really fit for intrusion."

I watched him closely, noting the way he worded his sentence and how he paused at the beginning. Yes, there was obviously something going on that I wasn't to know about, but I nodded anyways.

"I'll be back." Malfoy said as he turned on his heel. I narrowed my eyes and tried to seem like I was calm even though Malfoy's back was turned to me. It was a hard endeavour, but I attempted it until he was gone.

"Why am I even here."

**SRSRSRSRSR**

I looked up with my wand raised when the fireplace in the heirs chambers roared to life and Draco stepped out of the fire. I relaxed slightly but spoke up anyways, "He's in his room, if that's why your here."

"It's not. You know that Zabini kid?" I leaned forward in interest at the name.

"Yeah, I remember. What about him?"

"Get Hadrian out here." Draco said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes, "HADRIAN! DRACO WANTS YOU!" I snorted at the phraseology but said nothing.

"I'M COMMING, I'M COMMING!" I started laughing and looked away at Draco's glance.

Hadrian walked out staring us both down with angry jade green eyes and practically growled, "What is it that _you _want, Malfoy?"

"Zabini."

I saw my brother try to hide his interest, but I saw it in his eyes, "What about Zabini?"

"He showed up at my house, and he wants to do something. I informed him that I was rather busy, but he assumed it was you two, and I believe that reinforced his desire to come visit."

Hadrian raised his eyebrows and sighed, "Well, this will be good practice for Hogwarts. Remind me what we're to say, Sylvia?"

"We're supposed to say that we gave him fake names because we were hiding out identities."

"Our names are?"

"Idiot! That should be your name!" I said with irritation flashing in my eyes.

"Your names are Alex and Nora Lestrange, now can we please get going?" Draco's eyes were turning as icy as Frost was, and that wasn't a good sign."

"You two go ahead," I muttered. "I need to get dressed. I'll inform mother of our disappearance to, so she doesn't think the worst."

"Good thinking." Hadrian said before he and Draco disappeared into the fireplace.

I sighed and marched into my room. I would come up with a reasonable excuse while wearing reasonable clothes. This was certainly irritating, and I would have to curse this Zabini kid for it later.

And thank you to my Beta, who has once again pulled the diamond out of the dirt, and has made the chapter much more legible and was there for moral support through it all!

Please R&R!


	6. Act 6

**Hello everyone! Welcome to Act Six! I will start getting less erratic with my updates soon, but I'm going insane with school for the next two months (two months of school is just too much right now!) and I have a lot going on in my home life too. Although, this summer I will be working at a zoo as a Teen Zoo Keeper! I get to hold baby tigers, Ha!**

**Anyways! They're all going to Hogwarts this chapter! I decided I had stretched it out enough, and that I'd finally get into the drama of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! **[B/N: Finally :D]** Oh, I can't wait to mess with Ronald, and maybe even Hermione! I'll probably mess with Ron more though, as he can be a braggart when he wants to. Anyways, awesome questions to start off the story!**

**Disclaimer; No matter how much my Beta thinks I do, I do not own Harry Potter (Truly a tragedy, I do wish that I was rich) and I am only here for my own (and hopefully your) enjoyment. This is a non-profit story, written by a non-profit writer. Glad to get that off of my chest. On with the story!**

_**Hadrian: His familiar is a drifter that is actually a baby panther (SO CUTE) named Shadow, or Shay for short. He is Mischievous and very playful. **_

_**Draco: His familiar is an Ice Phoenix named Frost that has the same mindset as the Malfoy heir does. He looks and acts as if he is above most things that he comes across, unless it is something like a rare gem. **_

_**Sylvia: Her familiar is a Titanaboa that she raised from the dead named Jörmungandr or Jörmy for short. He can be snippy and he is often either rude or sarcastic, although is very protective. **_

**BZBZBZBZBZ**

"If you two don't behave yourself at Hogwarts, I will make sure that you either get pulled out, or Severus punishes you." I heard a voice say. I turned and smirked as I noticed the Rainer, no, the Lestrange twins. I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my seat. From what I could tell, they were going to have an easier time than I did while I attempted to get onto the train.

"_Blaize, if I hear a __**single**__ bad thing about your time at Hogwarts, I will pull you out and you will never see another magical school, or any other type for that matter." _

I rolled my eyes. She only said that because of all of the people that were around us. All of the terrified people, with terrified glances and shaking shoulders and they worried over the children that they were letting go.

It was an unspoken murmur around the platform, "_Voldemort..." _

No one knows who he is. No one knows where he is. Some would even go as far as to say that they have no clue _what_ he is. Obviously he is a wizard, and a human at that. But there are extremists...

"Zabini? What are you doing here?" Malfoy's irritating voice asked.

"Well, I imagine that I'm on my way to Hogwarts. Same as you are, I expect. Where are the twins?" I smirked up at Malfoy's outraged face. We had recently had an argument about whether or not he was the Lestrange twins' protector or not, and he had, of course, denied it.

"Nora and Alex are currently somewhere else," he said dismissively.

"I'm sure..." I mused. I watched as Malfoy pulled out a wand and put his trunk and owl cage away.

"How are you going to hide how advanced you are in your magic?"

"Easy, I'll pretend to struggle."

"That's not very easy Draco, and you know it!" A new voice said from behind Draco.

It was S-Nora, of course, and Alex. They both seemed fine, but I could see an underlying sadness in their eyes. They were still grieving for their Grandfather and it was obvious that they weren't coping very well.

"Well, maybe not for the likes of you," Malfoy sneered, "but as for me, I am a great actor!" I rolled my eyes at the haughtiness in his voice and watched as the twins also took out wands to put their things away.

"This is going to be so hard." S-Nora said with wide, sad eyes.

"What am I supposed to call you?" I blurted out without thinking.

"Hmm?"

"What am I supposed to call you and Ha-Al-Him?" I said while motioning helplessly to her twin.

She had the audacity to laugh at me, "Well, we had our names changed, and Aunty Cissa said that she did like Sylvia and Hadrian better, so you can just call us that. Okay?" She tilted her head and put on a smile that would have dazzled lesser men.

Who am I kidding? I was dazzled. "O-okay."

Malfoy rolled his eyes and looked around, "It'll be a while until Hogwarts. Want to play a game?"

**ADADADADAD**

"Albus, we know that the Dark Lord has children! If he were to send them to a school, there is no chance that he would send them anywhere but here. We even know that a letter was sent out to them! Merlin Albus, don't you see the danger the students will be in?" Minerva was harping at me.

"Minerva, that is improbable. Yes, we did send the letter out, so yes we do know that they exist, but we did not get a first name on the Letter, nor did they ever send a reply back. Instead, we'll have to watch the new Lestrange Twins and Draco Malfoy." I said with a sigh while tenting my fingers in front of me.

"Yes, but we also have to worry about Sirius Black's little girl now. Remember that she's coming to Hogwarts now?"

Ahh, yes. Sirius, the faithful dog, had had a child around the same time as the Potters had. Although we had proven that he was not guilty, and Peter Pettigrew had been sent to prison; people were still leery about him, never knowing if he had just Imperioused the people at his trial.

His daughter was almost nothing like her father, except for her looks. Cossette was a contemplative child that wasn't ever going to do what people expected. Yes, that little pawn would not be easy to control, unlike her father. I couldn't just throw a bone in her direction and control her; I would have to work for it.

"Now Minerva, we have nothing to worry about. There is no way that she would cause trouble here when her father is still considered a criminal; she is far too smart for that. I almost want to say that she is going to be a Ravenclaw," I said with a small smile to appease the uptight woman across from me.

She sighed, rubbing her temples, "You'd better be right Albus." With that she dismissed herself and walked out of the room to go and greet the students that would be arriving in an hour's time. This would give me time to think.

**CBCBCBCBCB**

I groaned in irritation as a kid pushed me on their way up to Hagrid. I'm going to punch the next kid who does it, I swear it!

Suddenly there was a girl next to me and she was smiling at me, "Hey! I don't think I know you! So, who are you?"

I automatically felt irritated. She didn't have the right to ask personal questions, nor did she have the right to bother me on the first day of Hogwarts. It was obvious that she felt entitled, so she must be a Pure-blood like myself. I looked her over and suddenly remembered her from the Daily Prophet. They were going crazy about her and her twin brother, who was apparently going to grow up into a model or something of the sort.

"I'm Cossette Black. You're Nora, or now Sylvia Lestrange. Where's your twin?" I smirked as I could see the weariness enter her eyes before she remembered where she was.

"He's over there, with Malfoy and Zabini. Why don't you come over to?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ahh, the powerful and influential children were gathering. I see. The only question is why they would bother adding Zabini to the mix. He had almost no influence as his mother was pretty much helpless. I thought over my choices. If I were to join their little group I would have a better chance of surviving if I was to be sorted into the Ravenclaw or Slytherin group. Good thing, because I wasn't Hufflepuff or Gryffindor material.

"Yes, I'll join your group." I said evenly as Sylvia lead me over to the others. I smirked, _'Have fun getting me now, Dumbledore.'_

I could feel the power coming off of Malfoy and the twins in waves, but Zabini's was much smaller. I looked at him thoughtfully for a moment but ignored it. As long as I was near one of the other three I would be fine, nothing at all to worry about.

**MMMMMMMMMM**

I waited for the three knocks on the entrance's door. I knew Hagrid would be there with the first years at any moment. I was gratified with the loud knocks and I immediately opened the door. I looked around for Miss Black and my heart sank when I saw that she was in a group with the Lestrange children and the Malfoy heir.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

I pulled the door wide open to expose to the children what they would be seeing for the next seven years, then I turned and started walking across the flagstone floor. I could hear the rest of the children in the dining hall as I showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing closer than normal to each other and peered around nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," I said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." I tried not to sneer Slytherin's name, but as a Gryffindor, and a woman who fights in the war, it was hard not to. "Each house has its own noble," Again, I was not very sure about Slytherin, "history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor." An honor that the Slytherins had had for eight years straight mind you, so I am not very sure about how honourable it really is. "I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

I looked at the Longbottom's child, Neville I think his name is, and noticed that his cloak was fastened under his left ear, and on the latest Weasley's smudged nose.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," I said. "Please wait quietly." And then I left the children to the chatter that I knew happened.

**HRHRHRHRHR**

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" someone asked in the silent room.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." I rolled my eyes. Obviously he was a Weasley, as he was a ginger and he was obviously talking about one of his abundantsiblings.

Then something happened that made many people jump a foot in the air- several people behind him screamed. He turned around and looked around trying to see what it is that had terrified them, but then he saw them. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance-" Obviously a Hufflepuff, then.

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost- I say, what are you all doing here?" It was a ghost wearing a ruff and tights that finally noticed us.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Hufflepuff ghost, smiling. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded, my friends and I not included among the number.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" Ah, so I was correct. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," Said a sharp voice that I was beginning to remember as McGonagall's. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

One by one the ghosts started floating through the other wall.

"Now, form a line," said the bossy Professor, "and follow me.

I suddenly felt as if I had to prove myself as my sister grabbed onto the back of my robe while we walked out of the chamber. We walked back across the hallway and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

I was astonished that I had never seen such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led us up there so that we came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind us. The sea of pale faces looked up at us almost expectantly. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. I glanced to the ceiling and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. I heard a little bushy haired girl whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History_." Hmm...it was almost hard to believe that the girl was not a pureblood.

I looked back over again with a bored expression when Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. I glanced up to see everyone in the school staring at it, so I looked at it too. The hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat began to sing:

_Many a year ago it seems,_

_The duty fell to me,_

_To sing my song and bring the news,_

_Of where students ought to be._

_Chosen by the founders four,_

_To help young students find their way,_

_When, confused, they stumble in,_

_On their first Hogwarts day._

_Four houses to choose from,_

_Not one less or more,_

_Each one by a different founder,_

_To fill with students they adore._

_Gryffindor, loving bravery,_

_Chose the strong of heart,_

_While Slytherin, feeling differently,_

_Thought cunning the greatest art._

_Ravenclaw claimed for her own house,_

_The brainy and the smart,_

_While Hufflepuff took to her dear house,_

_The just and kind of heart._

_All these students, with their differences,  
Are each key to this great school._

_And if Hogwarts hopes to stand,_

_Unity's the greatest tool._

_House to house and hand to hand,_

_Leaving differences behind._

_Only when you work together,_

_Can your strengths all be combined._

_Now at last, the time has come,_

_For me to send you separate ways.  
But remember, our division,_

_Could bring the end of Hogwarts' days._

I smirked slightly at the uneasy looks on everyone's faces and the slight smattering of applause across the hall. The hat bowed to the four tables and then became quite still again.

Professor McGonagall then stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.  
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause-

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. I sneered; Hufflepuffs were of no use to me.

"Black, Cossette!" I looked back as the girl walked forward slowly with narrowed eyes and warily sat on the stool, placing the hat on her head.

The room had started muttering as her name was called and they glanced around nervously. Obviously most of them understood just who she was and what her father was known for. If she made it to the right house we'd have to move her out of her living situation somehow.

After a few minutes of the hat sitting on her head it finally called, "SLYTHERIN!" I nodded and watched as she swept over to sit at the Slytherin table, and I could see her smirk.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit at the table.

"Boot, Terry!" Ah, finally! A pureblood and someone worth knowing!

"RAVENCLAW!" Pity.

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them, as they should.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too. "Brown, Lavender" became the first ditsy Gryffindor of the year and the Table to the far left exploded with cheers.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" became a Slytherin. Which was good because she was one of the children I was to keep an eye on.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sometimes the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it tool a little while to decide. For instance, "Finnigan, Seamus," sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!" So, that's the mud-blood's name.

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat and the Weasley groaned.

"Lestrange, Hadrian!" I rolled my shoulders before walking forward with an annoyed look in my eyes. I don't see why I had to be sorted, it's pointless! I already know it's going to be-

"SLYTHERIN!" Told you. I walked to the Slytherin table and sat next to Cossette and close to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Lestrange, Sylvia!" I heard the mutters as she walked forward and the whole school noted that she had a completely different look than I did, but I leaned forward and watched as she walked on eggshells. She could almost be a Hufflepuff with how sweet she could be, but she couldn't because she was of the Slytherin bloodline! If she wasn't a Slytherin or Ravenclaw she would be disowned!

"SLYTHERIN!" Thank Merlin.

She walked over to me and smiled nervously as she sat in between Crabbe and Goyle and collapsed onto Crabbe's bulky arm.

When Neville Longbottom was called he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing the hat and had to jog back amidst gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."

Then I watched as Draco swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once; the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

I nodded as Malfoy went off to join our bodyguards Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.

There weren't many people left now.

"Moon"..., "Nott"..., "Parkinson"..., then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" .., then "Perks, Sally-Anne"..., "Thomas, Dean,"..., "Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw and then it was the Weasley, and who honestly cares about him?

Then, the last person to be called, "Zabini, Blaize."

After about five seconds of contemplation the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" and we were all united as one.

Then the Bumblebee himself got to his feet. He was beaming at all of us, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see us all here.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words! And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!" He sat back down. Everyone from the other three houses clapped and cheered. I didn't know whether to gag or actually be sick.

"Do you want some steak, Hadrian?" Sylvia asked as she motioned to the full plate in front of us.

"Sure, why not?" I said as I looked over the dishes in front of us. There was roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

"So, what do you think about this place so far?" An older student that was sitting to my left said. I glanced over at him trying to figure out who he was.

"Ah, it's been fine so far. If you don't mind my asking, who are you exactly?" I said evenly.

"I'm Marcus Flint, Quidditch captain and Prefect." He said. I could hear how proud he was by the tone of his voice.

"I'm sure you are." Cossette said evenly as she cut up her roast beef before eating it slowly and deliberately.

"Yeah? Are you trying to be smart with me?" Flint asked in a steely voice.

"Us? Oh, why would we do that to an upper-class man?" Sylvia asked while leaning against Goyle to better see Flint. "We all know that the Flint line is pure for 24 generations already. Do you plan on being the 25th?"

I noticed the whole table turning to listen to the house politics going on and I smirked. Already we were rocking the boat, making it seem as if it were going to tip. Soon, if we did it right, we could get this over with and be in the top of the boat.

Soon dinner was over and the Bumblebee told us some stupid rules, like, "look to Mr. Filch's door to see what is not allowed in the school," and "don't go into the Forbidden Forest." Then there was the more interesting stuff like, "Let's welcome our new Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher, Mr. Gillon." Then we were dismissed from the great hall.

"Okay, first years, follow us to the common room." Flint said as he and another girl stood.

"As all of you need to learn, I am Marcus Flint, and this is Viola Richmond." Flint stated as we walked down the stairs and down a plethora of hallways until we came to a false wall.

"The password is 'Pureblood'. Don't forget it" Viola said as we walked into the common room. I looked around and smirked at the eerie green glow. I could tell that we were under the school.

"Now, first of all, for those of you who have familiars you should call them now, but do it one at a time please." Flint said.

I smirked and all of the students who had first years stepped forward and called them, Draco, Sylvia and I included.

I was first, "Shay, come here boy." I called as I smirked, "These people want to play." I practically crooned the last part just to creep everyone out.

The playful panther cub ran forward and I could tell that everyone was immediately affected, the breathing I the room got more laboured and some were even leaning against each other.

"Enough, you want to play nice." I said with a smirk.

"W-what is that...?" A girl asked. I turned and identified her as the Parkinson child.

"He's a Drifter. I don't expect you to know what that is. I'm the fourth person in the world to have a Drifter familiar. Most either go insane or die." I smirked as a chill settled over the room.

"Next." Flint said with weary eyes. I understood immediately as it was Sylvia that was next.

I watched her standing and looking thoughtful. It was obvious that she wasn't sure about showing off her ability. I finally just nodded at her. It would get us higher up on the food chain.

"_Jörmy, come here. They want us to show our familiars." _She hissed. Most of the children gasped and the Parkinson girl whimpered.

"_So that's all that I am to you; a dirty unintelligent familiar? Do all familiars talk to their 'masters'? Do all Familiars catch their 'master' when they fall to the ground? I think not! I don't think I should go out there. I believe the way you are treating me is abuse!" _ The angered snake said.

"_Jörmungandr, if you don't get out here right now I will shrink you permanently." _

"_... I hate being alive sometimes." _

If you listened hard enough you could distinctly hear the sound of scales slithering across the floor, the hissing as Jörmy found his way to us. As Jörmy made his way through a door that no one (including the Prefects) had known existed, he moved so just his lower half was on the ground, slithering like a King Cobra would.

"Everyone, this is Jörmungandr. Jörmungandr, this is everyone." Sylvia said calmly as the snake wrapped around her so she wasn't standing anymore.

Parkinson fainted.

"_Pathetic humans, feel the power of the great and mighty Jörmungandr!" _The snake hissed for only Sylvia and I to understand.

"Can you understand him?" An auburn haired girl with misty aqua eyes asked.

"Of course I can, if I couldn't why would I hiss like I was talking to him and let him wrap up around me like this?" Sylvia replied.

"Hmm... Then what did he just say to us."

"He said, 'Pathetic humans feel the power of the great and mighty Jörmungandr.' Of course, he won't do anything to any of you. Unless you mess with me, and would you really mess with me when I have this gorgeous snake with me?"

Ahh, politics already, but the rest of the students weren't ready yet, you could tell because of the fact that they were silent.

"How about the next person goes?" Viola asked, while wearily staring at Jörmy.

To my surprise, the next one up was Cossette. I had honestly thought that she was going to be like Blaize and not have a familiar. The students (including the now reawakened Parkinson who was still shaking like a leaf) were all waiting with baited breath as she stepped forward. She took a deep breath and...

Whistled.

'Strange... You would think that she was calling a dog.' I thought to myself, already knowing that her father had an illegal animagus form of a dog.

Instead of the shaggy black dog that I was anticipating a white tiger cub bounded out of the same door that Jörmy had come from and collided with Cossette's shin.

I think the funniest thing about the collision was not the fact that the girls in the back ground either gasped in faux pain or in awe of how 'cute' the tiger cub was, it was the fact that even though the force of the tiger cubs head colliding with her shin had obviously been so hard that most people would have at least yelped in pain, she had done nothing. She hadn't moved her eyes didn't tear up; there was no sharp intake of breath. It was just nothing. She leaned down and picked up the whimpering cub though and stroked its throbbing head with a gentle hand that I had only seen when Sylvia stroked Jörmy.

"Everyone, this is Autumn." Cossette said as she turned so they could all see the Albino tiger better. There were still spots against its fur, as it was so young, but there was still the occasional stripe.

Flint nodded and motioned for the next and last student to be up there; it was Draco.

"I don't have to do anything fancy to call for mine. Watch and be amazed." Draco said, as cocky as ever.

He held out his right arm and suddenly there was a gathering of crystals and a burst of light. There, standing proudly on Draco's outstretched arm was Frost, in all of his pride and glory.

"Everyone, this is Frost. He's an Ice Phoenix, and I would prefer it if you didn't bother him too much." Draco said, showing just how much of an arse he was.

"But Draco, couldn't I touch him?" The Parkinson girl simpered.

"No. I thought I had already said I would prefer for you not to, Pansy." Draco stated evenly as the girls eyes filled with unshed tears. How it was that she had managed to get into Slytherin instead of Hufflepuff would remain a mystery to us all.

"Now," Flint interjected. "We'll decide our roommates. Unlike Gryffindor, our rooming system is based off of where you want to be, not on your gender, nor on your capability. It is all you. There are many rooms down the first year hallway, and you may all split up. Of course, you may have your own room if you wish for it, and you can always switch rooms. There can only be five to a room at maximum though. Before you go and claim your room, tell either Viola or myself who you're rooming with."

Sylvia stepped forward and said decisively, "Cossette, Hadrian, Draco, Blaize and myself will share a room. Thank you." And she turned, somehow managed to grab every single one of us, and walked away to a room. She stopped in the middle of the hall, used a Point-me spell, and went farther down the hall to a room that no one else knew existed.

"Welcome to our new room." She said as the door swung open and we saw how perfect it was.

It was very large for a dormitory, and it had all of our belongings in there and unpacked. I realized that she had had this planned for a long time.

"We can change the colours and such, I just didn't think you would want to." She said with a smile.

None of us wanted to.

The carpet was a plush forest green, and the walls the colour of a shaded moss. The trimmings on the window that looked out into the lake were an aqua colour, while the dressers we were presented with gave the room a brighter feeling as they were silver with twirls of random colours on them. All in all, I was shocked that Sylvia had managed to pull this off.

"Impressive." I stated as I walked over to the four-poster that looked most appealing to me. All of the beds were four posters, and we could change the colours of the sheets if needed, so it wasn't as if anything could really go wrong.

"Yeah, I thought so too." Cossette stated as she walked to the bed opposite from mine.

"It's better than my room at home." Blaize said as he walked to the bed next to Cossette.

"It's adequate." Draco said pompously as he took the bed next to mine.

"It's perfect, Draco, and you know it!" Sylvia stated defensively as she made her way to the bed right next to the window. "And it's not like you've seen all of it."

"What?" All four of us asked unanimously.

"Oh, did I not mention that there is a living room attached? There's also a loo, but it is missing a shower."

All of us were silent until Draco said, "Fine, maybe it is perfect."


End file.
